


■)N COLLEGE 



UAL ANNIVERSARY 





LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



chap. L 33 5 4 8 l 

PRESENTED BY 



UNITED STATES OF AMEEIOA. 



I 



V 



UNION COLLEGE 
CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY 

1795-1895 



"To six thousand men Union College .has been something 
more than a name. To three thousand, not yet ivrapped in 
eternal silence, it is still a synonym for four years of in- 
tellectual struggle and intellectual joy, of growing discern- 
ment of vague outlines of the world of thought, of dawning 
enthusiasm for noble ideals, of delightful human companion- 
ships, of communion with as rare surroundings of natural 
beauty as ever gladdened the heart of prosaic man, and 
helped shake off some grains at least of its earthiness. v 

(Prof. James R. Truax.) 



p. 



1795 



UNION COLLEGE 

Op 



1895 



A RECORD OF THE COMMEMORATION 

JUNE TWENTY-FIRST TO TWENTY-SEVENTH, 1895 

OF THE 

ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY 

OP THE^^^ 

founding of Union college 



INCLUDING 



A SKETCH OF ITS HISTORY 




NEW-YORK 

1897 



\A 



K\ 




PREFATORY NOTE. 

THE Centennial Committee, in appointing a Sub-com- 
mittee on Publication, directed them to prepare and 
issne a full report of the proceedings connected with the 
observance of the anniversary, together with a history of 
the College. The fulfilment of this duty has been de- 
layed, partly by the amount of labor involved, and partly 
by the fact that the Committee on Publication included 
no men of leisure, who could devote to the task continu- 
ous attention. 

It was thought best to make the report as accurate as 
possible by giving each speaker an opportunity to re- 
vise his contribution both in manuscript and in proof. 
This required voluminous correspondence and frequent 
interruptions in the work of preparation. 

In order to keep the volume within reasonable limits, 
it was found necessary to omit any minute account of 
the events which belonged to the annual commencement 
rather than to the Centennial celebration. The im- 
promptu speeches delivered at the Alumni dinner have 
also been omitted. 

For the historical sketch the committee are indebted to 
Mr. Robert C. Alexander, of the class of 1880, who kindly 
placed at their disposal the results of researches which 
he had made for a different purpose. 
i* v 



VI PEEFATOEY NOTE. 

To facilitate reference to the contents of the volume, a 
full index has been appended. 

The Committee on Publication indulge the hope that 
this volume may not only keep alive the memory of 
a notable anniversary, but also strengthen the loyal 
attachment of the Alumni to their alma mater. 

Chaeles Emory Smith, 

Charles D. Nott, 

Frederick W. Seward, 

Homer Greene, 

James R. Truax, 

Edward P. White, 

George Alexander, Chairman. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION .... 1-35 

The Preparation 1-7 

Centennial Committee 4-5 

Sub-Committees . . . 5-6 

The Program 8-18 

The Proceedings 19-35 

Alumni Dinner 23-25 

Commencement Exercises 26-35 

Conferring of Degrees 27-31 

History op the College 37-76 

Baccalaureate Day 

MORNING: SERVICE 
Discourse by George Alexander, D. D 79-90 

AFTERNOON SERVICE 
Conference on the Relations op Religion and Educa- 
tion 91-126 

addresses by 

A. C. Sewall, D. D 91-94 

B. B. Loomis, D. D 95-100 

Rev. "Walter Scott, A. M 101-109 

Thomas E. Bliss, D. D 110-114 

William Maxon, D. D 115-120 

Frederick Z. Rooker, D. D 121-126 

EVENING SERVICE 
Baccalaureate Sermon by Rt. Rev. Wm. C. Doane, D. D. 127-139 

Educators' Day 

MORNING SESSION. SUBJECT, THE SECONDARY 

SCHOOL 143-182 

addresses by 

Melvil Dewey 143-149 

William H. Maxwell . 150-171 

C. F. P. Bancroft, LL. D 172-182 

vii 



Vlll 



CONTENTS. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. SUBJECT, THE COLLEGE . 183-212 
addresses by 

President Austin Scott 183-185 

President Benjamin Andrews 186-197 

President James H. Taylor 198-212 

EVENING SESSION. SUBJECT, THE UNIVERSITY . 213-244 
addresses by 

President Daniel Coit Oilman 213-216 

Professor William Gardner Hale .... 217-229 

President G. Stanley Hall 230-244 

Alumni Day 

CENTENNIAL BANQUET 
speeches by 
President Andrew V. V. Raymond . 
Chancellor Anson Judd Upson . 
Professor George Herbert Palmer 
Dean Henry Parks Wright . 
Professor John Haskell Hewitt . 
Professor Charles P. Richardson 
Dean J. H. Van Amringe . 
Professor William Macdonald . 
Professor John Randolph Tucker 
Professor Oren Root . 
Professor Anson D. Morse 
President Austin Scott 
President James H. Taylor 



EVENING SESSION 
Commemorative Addresses and Centennial Poem 
addresses by 

Charles D. Nott, D. D 

George P. Danforth, LL. D. .... 
Stealy B. Rossiter, D. D. 

CENTENNIAL POEM BY 

William H. McElroy, LL. D 



THE 



Memobial Day 

PATRIOTIC SERVICE 



COLLEGE IN 

ADDRESSES BY 

Gen. Daniel Butterfield, LL. D 
Major Austin A. Yates 
Poem by Mr. Weston Flint 



247-248 
249-257 
258-259 
261-263 
263-268 
268-270 
271-274 
274-276 
276-280 
280-283 
283-284 
285-288 
288-291 

293-331 

293-295 
296-310 
311-327 

328-331 



335-347 

335-336 

337-346 

347 



CONTENTS. IX 

THE COLLEGE IN PROFESSIONAL LIFE 348-420 

ADDRESSES BY 

W. H. Helme Moore 348-351 

J. Newton Fiero 352-367 

Teunis S. Hamlin, D. D 368-405 

John Van Rensselaer Hofe, A. M., M. D. 406-420 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL 421-435 
addresses by 

President Cady Staley 421-426 

Warner Miller, LL. D 427-435 

THE COLLEGE IN STATESMANSHIP AND POLITICS 437-467 

ADDRESSES BY 

Silas B. Brownell, LL. D 437-438 

Governor John Gary Evans 439-443 

Hon. David C. Robinson Ill 1 55 

Charles Emory Smith, LL. D 456-467 

Commencement Day 

UNIVERSITY CELEBRATION 471-497 

ADDRESS by 
Eliphalet Nott Potter, D. D. , LL. D. 471-476 

centennial oration by 
Henry C. Potter, D. D., LL. D 477-497 

REGISTRATION 501-517 

INDEX 519-524 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

UNION COLLEGE Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Union College in 1795 39 

John Blair Smith 44 

Jonathan Edwards 46 

Union College in 1804 47 

Eliphalet Nott 49 

Laurens P. Hickok . 57 

Charles Augustus Aiken 58 

Eliphalet Nott Potter 59 

Harrison E. Webster 60 

Andrew V. V. Raymond 61 

Tayler Lewis 63 

Isaac W. Jackson 64 

Entrance to College Grounds 68 

The Terrace 69 

Powers Memorial Building 71 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION. 



THE PKEPARATION. 

AT the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of 
A Union College on June 27, 1893, Trustee R. C. Alex- 
ander moved the following preamble and resolution, pre- 
facing it by the remark that with the substitution of the 
word "century" for "half-century," the resolution was 
an exact copy of one passed by the Board of Trustees 
fifty years before : 

Whereas, The space of a century will have nearly 
elapsed before the next annual commencement since the 
incorporation of Union College ; and whereas, the expira- 
tion of such a period affords a fit occasion for reviewing 
the past history of the institution, and commemorating 
the services of those among its patrons and alumni who 
have been called away by death therefrom. 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to cooperate 
with a committee of the alumni in a joint committee to 
consider and report upon the time most proper for such a 
celebration, and to suggest such arrangements as may, in 
their estimation, be deemed best adapted to give interest 
and useful effect to the occasion. 
1 



UNION COLLEGE. 



ACTION OF THE ALUMNI. 



On the same day the Association of the Alumni, at its 
regular annual meeting, upon motion of Edward P. White, 
'79, adopted the following preamble and resolutions : 

"Wheeeas, The year 1895 will mark the completion of a 
full hundred years of the life of Union College, and 

Whereas, This fact will call for general rejoicing among 
the alumni and friends of the College, and will offer a 
most fitting occasion for celebrating the beneficent work 
and far-reaching influence of our Alma Mater, and for 
honoring the memory of those who, as officers, instruc- 
tors, graduates, or benefactors, have made the name of 
Union illustrious; and 

Whereas, The worthy commemoration of an event of 
such historic interest will require extended and careful 
preparations, therefore be it resolved, 

1. That a committee of twelve, together with the Pres- 
ident of the Association, ex officio, be appointed from our 
most interested and loyal alumni to devise and perfect a 
plan for appropriately celebrating the centennial anniver- 
sary of the founding of Union College. The committee 
shall have power to add to their number by selecting at 
least one from each class. 

2. That the Faculty and Board of Trustees be requested 
to appoint each a committee to cooperate with this com- 
mittee of the alumni. 

3. That the joint committee be requested to report 
one year hence a definite plan for the celebration. 

ACTION OF THE FACULTY. 

On December 7, 1893, at a meeting of the Faculty of 
the College, a resolution was unanimously adopted author- 
izing the President to appoint a committee of three to co- 



SKETCH OP THE COMMEMOEATION. 3 

operate with the other committees in the celebration of 
the centennial anniversary of the College. 

ACTION OF THE UNIVEESITY. 

At the annual meeting of the Board of Governors 
of the University, held in Albany, on January 23, 1894, 
Dr. Willis J. Tucker presiding, a resolution was adopted 
authorizing the chairman to appoint one representative 
upon the Centennial Committee from each of the Albany 
departments of the University, and directing that he 
should designate himself as the representative of the 
Medical College. 

OEGANIZATION OF THE COMMITTEE. 

On December 14, 1893, the committees met in joint ses- 
sion at 203 Broadway, in the city of New York, made a 
temporary organization, and appointed a sub-committee 
on plan and scope to report at a later meeting, which 
they should call. 

Such meeting was duly held at the same place on 
March 8, 1894, and a permanent organization was then 
effected. The committee at the same time added to their 
number additional alumni members, as authorized by the 
resolution of the General Alumni Association, thus form- 
ing the Grand Committee of One Hundred; and desig- 
nated the members of the various sub-committees. 

The committee then heard the report of the sub-com- 
mittee on plan and scope, appointed at the December 
meeting, and after due discussion adopted a set of by- 
laws for the future direction of the Centennial Committee 
and its various sub-committees. 

It was decided that the celebration of the Centennial 
should be held during the Commencement week of 1895, 
and that the various Centennial exercises should be ar- 
ticulated with the regular exercises of the graduating 



4 UNION COLLEGE. 

class in such maimer as might thereafter be agreed upon 
by the committees on Commemorative Exercises and on 
Banquet and Keceptions, cooperating with the Faculty 
of the College. 

The committee, as finally constituted, and its sub-com- 
mittees are indicated in the following list : 

THE CENTENNIAL COMMITTEE. 

OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 

Hon. JUDSON S. LANDON, LL. D. 
WM. H. H. MOORE. Rev. GEORGE ALEXANDER, D. D. 

Hon. JOHN A. DE REMER. CHARLES C. LESTER. 

OF THE FACULTY. 

Prof. WILLIAM WELLS, LL. D. 
Prof. JAMES R. TRUAX, Ph. D. Prof. B. H. RIPTON, Ph. D. 

OF THE UNIVERSITY. 

MEDICAL COLLEGE, . . Dr. WILLIS G. TUCKER. 

LAW SCHOOL, . . . Dean LEWIS B. HALL. 

DUDLEY OBSERVATORY, . Dr. SAMUEL B. WARD. 

COLLEGE OP PHARMACY, Dr. ALFRED B. HUESTED. 

OF THE ALUMNI. 

Rev. ANDREW V. V. RAYMOND, D. D. 
Hon. ALEX. H. RICE, LL. D. 

Gen. DANIEL BUTTERPIELD, LL. D. 
Hon. ROBERT EARL, LL. D. 

Rev. CHARLES D. NOTT, D. D. 
Hon. CHARLES EMORY SMITH, LL. D. 

Col. CHARLES E. SPRAGUE, Ph. D. 
ROBERT C. ALEXANDER. 

Hon. CHESTER HOLCOMBE. 
HOMER GREENE. 

JOSEPH D. CRAIG, M. D. 
SEYMOUR VAN SANTVOORD. 

WILLIAM P. RUDD. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION. 



OF THE ALUMNI. 



(Continued.) 



'26 
'27, 
'28 
'29 
'30 
'31 
'32 
'33 
'34, 
'35 
'36 
'37 
'38 
'39 
'40 
'41 
'42 
'43 
'44 
'45 
'46 
'47, 
'4& 
'49 
'50 
'51 
'52 
'53 
'54 
'55 
'56 
'57 
'58 
'59 
'60 
'61 



Thomas Hun, M. D., 
Charles T. Cromwell, 
Zaccheus T. Newcomb, 
Alexander Proudfit, D. D., 
John C. Halsey, M. D., 
Gen. John Cochrane, 
Charles E. West, LL. D., 
Ezra A. Huntington, D. D., 
John C. Cruikshank, D. D., 
John Foster, LL. D., 
Robert M. Brown, D. D., 
Hon. S. K. Williams, 
Hon. Isaac Dayton, 
Joel T. Headly, LL. D., 
Hon. Geo. F. Danforth, LL. D, 
Hamilton Harris, LL. D., 
Hon. Samuel W. Jackson, 
Prof. Daniel B. Hagar, 
Prof. Wendell Lamoroux, 
Rt. Rev. A. N. Littlejohn, D. D. 
Hon. John M. Carroll, 
Warren G. Brown, 
Hon. diaries C. Nott, 
Hon. Frederick W. Seward, 
Clifford A. Hand, 
James H. McClure, 
Silas B. Brownell, LL. D. 
Nelson Millard, D. D., 
Hon. John H. Burtis, 
Sheldon Jackson, D. D., 
Edward P. North, 
L. Clark Seelye, D. D., 
John T. Mygatt, 
Charles Beattie, D. D., 
Hon. Warner Miller, 
E. Nott Potter, D. D., LL. D. , 



'62 
'63 
'64 
'65 
'66 
'67, 
'68 
'69 
'70 
'71 
'72 
'73 
'74, 
'75, 

,'76 
'77, 
'78 
'79 
'80 

,'81 
'82 
'83 
'84, 
'85 
'86 
'87 
'88 
'89 
'90 
'91 
'92 
'93 
'94 
'95 
'96 
'97 



Prof. Oliver P. Steves, 
Hon. Amasa J. Parker, 
Daniel M. Stimson, M. D., 
Stealy B. Rossiter, D. D., 
Monroe M. Cady. 
Hon. J. Newton Fiero, 
Harrison E. Webster, LL. D., 
Kenneth Clai-k, 
Robert P. Orr, 
George R. Donnan, 
Hon. Howard Thornton, 
Wm. T. Clute, M. D., 
Hon. Tracy C. Becker, 
N. V. V. Franchot, 
Frederick B. Streeter, M. D., 
William B. Rankine, 
Charles M. Culver, M. D., 
Edward P. White, 
John V. L. Pruyn, 
Frederick W. Cameron, 
James R. Fairgrieve, 
Frank Burton, 
Dow Beekman, 
Frank Bailey, 
William P. Landon, 
Charles F. Bridge, 
Prof. Philip H. Cole, 
Archie R. Conover, 
Fred. L. Comstock, 
Tracy H. Robertson, 
Edward J. Prest, 
George T. Hughes, 

Howard Pemberton, 2d, 
Russell S. Greenman, 
R. E. Wilder. 



'48, Hon. John H. Starin, 
1* 



'93, Hon. Pliny T. Sexton, LL. D. 



6 UNION COLLEGE. 



OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES. 

Chairman, Andrew V. V. Raymond, 
Vice-Chairinan, Charles D. Nott, 
Treasurer, Charles E. Sprague, 
Secretary, Chester Holcombe, 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

A. V. V. Raymond, Chairman. 

Charles D. Nott, Charles E. Sprague, 

Chester Holcombe, J. S. Landon, 

William Wells, J. A. De Remer, 

George Alexander, Seymour Van Santvoord 

John H. Starin, Robert C. Alexander. 

COMMITTEE ON FINANCE. 

Charles E. Sprague, Chairman. 

Hamilton Harris, Chester Holcombe, 

Alex. H. Rice, C. M. Culver, 

Daniel Butterfield, James H. McClure. 

COMMITTEE ON INVITATION. 

Charles C. Lester, Chairman. 

Robert Earl, Joseph D. Craig, 

Howard Thornton, B. H. Ripton. 



COMMITTEE ON COMMEMORATIVE EXERCISES. 

J. S. Landon, Chairman. 

A. V. V. Raymond, Warner Miller, 

Daniel Butterfield, Silas B. Brownell, 

George Alexander, James R. Truax. 

COMMITTEE ON BANQUET AND RECEPTIONS. 

William Wells, Chairman, 

J. A. De Remer, William P. Rudd, 

J. Newton Fiero, Willis G. Tucker. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOEATION. 7 

COMMITTEE ON MUSIC. 

Seymour Van Santvoord, Chairman. 

Daniel M. Stimson, William B. Rankine, 

Charles W. Culver, Tracy H. Robertson. 

COMMITTEE ON ENTERTAINMENT. 
John A. De Remer, Chairman. 
Samuel W. Jackson, William T. Clute. 

COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION. 
John H. Starin, Chairman. 
Daniel Butterfield, Frank Loomis. 

COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION OF HISTORY, ETC. 

George Alexander, Chairman. 

Charles Emory Smith, Homer Greene, 

Charles D. Nott, James R. Truax, 

Frederick W. Seward, Edward P. White. 

COMMITTEE ON ALUMNI RECORD. 

Wendell Lamoroux, Chairman. 

A. H. Rice, Philip H. Cole, 

Charles F. Bridge, Dow Beekman. 

COMMITTEE ON PRINTING, PUBLICITY, AND 

PROMOTION. 

R. C. Alexander, Chairman. 

Frederick W. Cameron, William B. Rankine, 

Frank A. de Puy, Edgar S. Barney. 

COMMITTEE ON CENTENNIAL ENDOWMENT. 

Stephen K. Williams, John V. L. Pruyn, 

Wm. H. H. Moore, William P. Landon, 

John A. De Remer, Monroe M. Cady, 

Pliny T. Sexton. 

When the time for the celebration drew near, the Committee issued 
the following Program : 



8 UNION COLLEGE. 

THE PBOGKRAM. 
jfrtoas, June 2 1. 

ALLISON-FOOTE PRIZE DEBATE 

BETWEEN THE 

ADELPHIC AND PHILOMATHEAN LITERARY SOCIETIES. 
First Presbyterian Church, 8.00 P. M. 

QUESTION FOR DEBATE -.—Resolved, " That Coin's Financial School 
is Antagonistic to the True Interests of America." 
MUSIC. 

SPEAKERS. 
In the Affirmative. 
Members of the Adelphic Society. 
Rockwell Harmon Potter, Glenville, 
Orman West, Middleburgh, 
Zedekiah L. Myers, St. Johnsville. 

In the Negative. 
Members of the Philomathean Society. 
Theodore Floyd Bayles, West Kortright, 
James Michael Cass, Wataugua, Tenn., 
Orlando B. Pershing. 
MUSIC. 

AWARD OF PRIZES. 

Saturfca^, June 22. 

CLASS-DAY EXERCISES OF THE CLASS OF 1895. 
First Presbyterian Church, 3.30 p. m. 

INTRODUCTORY MUSIC. 

PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS, George Linius Streeter, Johnstown. 

ORATION, James Alexander Collins, Amsterdam. 

POEM, Henry Ravenel Dwight, Charleston, S. C. 

HISTORY, Albert Sewall Cox, Schenectady. 

ADDRESS, William Grant Brown, Utica. 

PROPHECY, .... Theodore Floyd Bayles, West Kortright. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOKATION. 9 

PRIZE ORATORY OF JUNIORS AND SOPHOMORES, 

AND THE ALEXANDER PRIZE CONTEST 

IN EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING. 

First Presbyterian Church, 7.30 P. M. 

ORATORY. 
INTRODUCTORY MUSIC. 

Sophomores. 

Howard Rutsen Fukbeck, St. Johnsville, " Safeguards of a Nation." 

Ira Hotaling, Albany, " Unconscious Influence." 

John Crapo Merchant, Nassau, "Ballot Reform." 

MUSIC. 

Juniors. 

D. Howard Craver, Albany, . . . " Christianity Not Philosophy." 

George J. Dann, Walton, "The End of the Century." 

Roscoe Guernsey, East Cobleskill, . . " The Progress of Liberty." 

MUSIC. 

PRIZE CONTEST. 

ESTABLISHED BY ROBERT C. ALEXANDER, '80. 
For the Encouragement of Extemporaneous Speaking. 
General Subject, " Wealth." 
MUSIC. 

CONTESTANTS. 

Horatio M. Pollock, '95, Schenectady. 

D. Howard Craver, '96, Albany. 

Albert S. Cox, '95, Schenectady. 

Theodore Floyd Bayles, '95 West Kortright. 

William Dike Reed, '98, Albany. 

Rockwell Harmon Potter, '95, Glenville. 

George Young, '96, Cobleskill. 

Loren C. Guernsey, '95, East Cobleskill. 

MUSIC. 



10 



UNION COLLEGE. 



DOXOLOGY. 



5un&a£, 3une 23. 

MORNING- SERVICE. 
First Eeformed Church, 10.30 A. m. 

INVOCATION. 



ANTHEM. 



HYMN. 



SALUTATION. 

Besponsive Reading of the 103d Psalm. 

Beading of the Commandments. 

PRAYER. 



HYMN. 



Offerings and Offertory. 



DISCOURSE 



By the Rev. GEORGE ALEXANDER, D. D., '66, Pastor of the 
University Place Presbyterian Church of New York City. 



HYMN. 



PRAYER. 
BENEDICTION. 



ANTHEM. 
HYMN. 



AFTERNOON SERVICE. 
First Reformed Church, 4.00 P. M. 

Beading of Scripture. 



CONFERENCE, "RELIGION AND EDUCATION," 

Led by the Rev. A. C. SEWALL, D. D., Pastor of the 

First Reformed Church, Schenectady, N. Y. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOKATION. 11 



ADDRESSES BY 

The Rev. B. B. Loomis, '63, of Canajoharie, N. Y., representing the 
Methodist Church. 

The Rev. Walter Scott, '68, Principal of the Connecticut Literary 
Institution, representing the Baptist Church. 

The Rev. William D. Maxon, D. D., 78, Rector of the Calvary Epis- 
copal Church, of Pittsburg, Pa. 

The Rev. Thomas E. Bliss, D. D., '48, of Denver, Colorado, repre- 
senting the Presbyterian Church. 

The Rev. Frederick Z. Rooker, D. D., '84, Secretary to the Apostolic 
Delegate, Monsignor Satolli, Washington, D. C. 

HYMN. 

BENEDICTION. 



EVENING SERVICE AND BACCALAUREATE SERMON. 
First Reformed Church, 7.30 p. M. 

INVOCATION. 

SALUTATION. 
ANTHEM. 

Beading of the Third Chapter of the Booh of Proverbs. 

PRAYER. 

Offerings and Offertory. 
HYMN. 

BACCALAUREATE SERMON BY 

The Right Reverend WILLIAM CROSWELL DOANE, 

Bishop of Albany, N. Y. 

PRAYER. 
HYMN. 

BENEDICTION. 



12 UNION COLLEGE. 

/IDonfcas, June 24. 

EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE. 

MORNING SESSION. 
College Chapel, 10 o'clock. 

Subject: "The School." 

Melvil Dewey, Secretary of the Board of Regents of the University 
of the State of New York, presiding. 

ADDRESSES BY 

Prof. William H. Maxwell, Superintendent of Schools, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
C. F. P. Bancroft, Principal of Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 
College Chapel, 2.30 o'clock. 

Subject: " The College." 

President Scott, of Rutgers College, presiding. 

ADDRESSES BY 

President Andrews, of Brown University. 
President Taylor, of Vassar College. 

ATHLETIC CONTEST. 

College Oval, 4.30 p. m. 

EVENING SESSION. 
First Presbyterian Church, 8.00 o'clock. 

Subject: "The University." 

President Gilman, of Johns Hopkins University, presiding. 

ADDRESSES BY 

President G. Stanley Hall, of Clark University. 

President Harper, of Chicago University. 

Chancellor MacCracken, of the University of the City of New York. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION. 13 

Uuesfca^, June 25. 

ALUMNI DAY. 

ANNUAL MEETING OP THE PHI BETA KAPPA SOCIETY. 
English Room, 9.00 A. M. 

ANNUAL MEETING- OF THE SIGMA XI SOCIETY. 
Engineering Room, 9.00 A. M. 

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE TRUSTEES. 
Philosophical Room, 10.00 A. M. 

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GENERAL ALUMNI 
ASSOCIATION. 

Hon. Amasa J. Parker, President, presiding. 

College Chapel, 10.00 A. M. 

ELECTION OF ALUMNI TRUSTEE 12.00 m. 

FOOT-BALL KICKING CONTEST. 

Under the direction of the Foot-Ball Association. 

College Campus, 12.15 p. m. 

CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 

Memorial Hall, 1.15 P. M. 

President Raymond, presiding. 

MUSIC — By the Glee, Mandolin, and Banjo Clubs. 

Greetings from 

Chancellor Anson J. Upson, of the Board of Regents of the 

University of the State of New York. 

Professor George Herbert Palmer, of Harvard University. 

President Patton, of Princeton College. 

President Andrews, of Brown University. 

Professor Henry Parks Wright, Dean of Yale College. 



14 UNION COLLEGE. 

Professor John Haskell Hewitt, of Williams College. 

Professor Charles F. Richardson, of Dartmouth College. 

Professor J. H. Van Amringe, Dean of Columbia College. 

Professor William MacDonald, of Bowdoin College. 

Professor John Randolph Tucker, of Washington and 

Lee University. 

President Scott, of Rutgers College. 

Professor Oren Root, of Hamilton College. 

Professor Anson D. Morse, of Amherst College. 

Chancellor MacCracken, of the University of the City of New York. 

President Taylor, of Vassar College. 



REUNION OF ALL CLASSES ABOUT THE "OLD ELM," 
AND IVY EXERCISES OF THE CLASS OF 1895. 

College Garden, 3.30 p. m. 

INTRODUCTORY MUSIC. 
PIPE ORATION, Isaac Harby, Sumter, S. C. 

MUSIC. 
IVY POEM, Rockwell Harmon Potter, Glenville. 

PLANTING OF THE IVY. 
IVY ORATION, . . George Albert Johnston, Palatine Bridge. 

RECEPTION BY PRESIDENT AND MRS. RAYMOND. 
- President's Residence, 5.00 P. M. 

COMMEMORATIVE ADDRESSES AND CENTENNIAL POEM. 
First Presbyterian Church, 8.00 p. m. 

Rev. Chas. D. Nott, D. D., '54, presiding. 

ADDRESSES BY 

Hon. George F. Danforth, LL. D., '40. 
Rev. Stealy B. Rossiter, D. D., '65. 

POEM BY 
William H. McElroy, LL. D., '60. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION. 15 

Me&nesfcas, June 26. 

MEMORIAL DAY. 

THE COLLEGE IN PATRIOTIC SERVICE. 

College Campus, 8.30 A. M. 

Presiding Officer, — Gen. Daniel Buttereield, LL. D., '49. 

FLAG-RAISING, WITH ARTILLERY SALUTE. 

ADDRESS BY 
Major Austin A. Yates, '54. 

THE COLLEGE IN PROFESSIONAL LIFE. 
Memorial Hall, 9.30 a. m. 

Presiding Officer,— W. H. H. Moore, '44. 

ADDRESSES BY 

Hon. J. Newton Fiero, '67, late President of the New York 
State Bar Association. 

Rev. Teunis S. Hamlin. D. D., '67. 

Major John Van R. Hofe, M. D., U. S. A., 71. 

BASE-BALL GAME. 

The College Nine against an Alumni Nine. 

College Campus, 11.00 a. m. 

ALUMNI BANQUET. 

Memorial Hall, 1.00 P. M. 

Hon. Amasa J. Parker, '63, President of the General Alumni As- 
sociation, presiding. 

ADDRESSES BY ALUMNI AND OTHERS. 

MUSIC — The Glee, Banjo, and Mandolin Clubs. 



16 UNION COLLEGE. 

CELEBRATION OF THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL 

OF THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL 

OF UNION COLLEGE. 

College Chapel, 4.00 P. M. 

Presiding Officer,— President Cady Staley, '65, of the Case School 
of Applied Science. 

ADDRESSES BY 

Hon. Warner Miller, LL. D., '60. 

Gen. Roy Stone, '56. 



THE COLLEGE IN STATESMANSHIP AND POLITICS 
First Presbyterian Church, 8.00 p. m. 

Presiding Officer,— Hon. John Gary Evans, '83, Governor of South 
Carolina. 



MUSIC — Introductory — The College Banjo and Mandolin 
Clubs. 



ADDRESS BY 

Hon. David C. Robinson, '65. 

SONG — The College Glee Club. 

ADDRESS BY 
Hon. Charles Emory Smith, LL. D., '61. 

SONG — The College Glee Club. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION. 17 

Ubursfcap, 3une 27. 

COMMENCEMENT DAY. 

GRADUATING EXERCISES OF THE CLASS OF 1895. 

First Presbyterian Church, 10.00 a. m. 

INTRODUCTORY MUSIC — 

" Centennial March," by John T. Mygatt, '58. 

Singing of the 117th Psalm to the tune " Old Hundred." 

PRAYER. 
MUSIC. 

ORATIONS. 

1. " America for Humanity." 

William Allen, Clyde. 

2. " The Evolution of Great Men." 

Theodore Floyd Bayles, West Kortright. 

3. " An Educational Basis for Suffrage." 

Frederick Marshall Eames, Albany. 

MUSIC. 

4. " The Study of Literature, as Related to a Liberal Education." 

Loren C. Guernsey, East Cobleskill. 

5. " The Beneficent Results of the French Revolution." 

Frederick Klein, Gloversville. 

6. " The Advance of Man." 

Horatio M. Pollock, Schenectady. 
MUSIC. 

7. " Influence of Feudalism on the Formation of the State." 

George Linius Streeter, Johnstown. 

8. " The Individual and Society." 

John N. V. Vedder, Schenectady. 

9. VALEDICTORY — " Ethics in Literature." 

Rockwell Harmon Potter, Glenville. 
THESIS IN ENGINEERING. 
* " Asphalts and Tests of Asphalts." 

Miles Ayrault, Jr., Tonawanda. 
MUSIC. 

* Excused. 

2 



18 UNION COLLEGE. 

UNIVERSITY CELEBRATION. 

REV. ELIPHALET NOTT POTTER, D. D., LL. D., 

President of Hobart College, President of Union College 1871-84, 
Class '61, Founder of Union University, introducing, 

The Honorary Chancellor and Centennial Orator, 

RIGHT REV. HENRY C. POTTER, D. D., LL. D., 
Bishop of New York. 
MUSIC. 

CONFERRING: OF DEGREES. 

SONG TO OLD UNION. 

AWARD OF PRIZES. 

BENEDICTION. 

Chief Marshal, Merton R. Skinner, '95. 

Assistant Marshals. 

'96. '97. '98. 

R. B. Beattie, P. Canfield, G. W. Spiegel, 

W. A. Campbell, H. A. Frey, F. E. Sturdevant, 

A. L. Peckham, C. G. McMullen, C. J. Vrooman. 

M. A. Twiford. H. C. Todd, 

A. C. Wyckoff. 

PRESIDENT'S RECEPTION. 
President's Residence, 8.00 to 10.00 P. M. 

RECEPTION OF THE GRADUATING CLASS. 
Memorial Hall, 10.00 P. M. 

SILAS B. BROWNELL, LL. D., 

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, 
General Chairman for Centennial Exercises. 

HON. JOHN KEYES PAIGE, '65. 
Grand Marshal. 



THE PKOCEEDINGS. 

THE program issued by the Centennial Committee was 
successfully carried out in all its details except as 
changes were required by the enforced absence of Presi- 
dent Patton, of Princeton College; President Harper, of 
Chicago University; Chancellor MacCracken, of the Uni- 
versity of New York, and General Roy Stone. 

The beautiful college grounds were never more beauti- 
ful, and the rare June days were seldom overcast with 
threatening clouds. 

College Hill was the center of interest, but when the 
general public were invited the place of assembly was 
changed to the city churches — the First Presbyterian 
Church, suggestive to Union men of old and hallowed as- 
sociation, and the First Reformed Church with its beau- 
tiful impressiveness, both being chosen for some of the 
most important events. In the college inclosure the 
point of meeting shifted from the library to the familiar 
chapel, and the marble hall of the Alumni Building with 
its lofty dome ; again to the large tent erected upon the 
campus, and, most beautiful of all, Nature's amphitheater 
and " Captain Jack's Garden." Crowds gathered also at 
the running track in the grove to witness the athletic 
contest, and the President's house was the scene of a 
brilliant reception. 

The attendance throughout the week's festivities was 
very large, and interest was sustained and deepened to 
the very close by the able discussions and eloquent ad- 
dresses, each successive event making a fresh impression 
of appropriateness and importance, and the more serious 
features of the celebration being happily relieved by 
lighter entertainments. 



20 UNION COLLEGE. 

The first of the commencement exercises was a debate 
between the Adelphic and Philomathean Literary Socie- 
ties for the Allison-Foote prize, which took place at the 
First Presbyterian Church, Friday evening, June 21. 
The question for debate was, " Resolved, that ' Coin's Fi- 
nancial School ' antagonizes the true interests of America." 
Three undergraduates spoke on each side. The Adelphic 
Society, which had the affirmative, received the award, 
and the first Adelphic speaker, Rockwell H. Potter, of 
the Class of '95, won the individual prize. 

On Saturday afternoon occurred the Class day exercises 
of the graduating class, and in the evening the Junior 
and Sophomore prize contest in oratory, and the contest 
in extemporaneous speaking for the R. C. Alexander 
prize. Large audiences attended and greeted the several 
competitors with the accustomed generosity of applause. 

On Sunday the centennial commemoration proper was 
inaugurated with a morning service at the First Reformed 
Chui"ch. The pastor, Rev. A. C. Sewall, D. D., and Presi- 
dent Raymond conducted the devotional exercises, and 
the memorial discourse was delivered by the Rev. George 
Alexander, D. D., of the Class of : 66, pastor of the Uni- 
versity Place Presbyterian Church, New York. 

In the afternoon, at the same place, occurred an inter- 
denominational conference on religion and education. 
The Rev. Dr. Sewall presided, and with brief and appro- 
priate remarks introduced representatives of five great 
religious bodies, each of whom discussed the question 
from the view point of his own denomination. The tone 
of the whole conference was admirable and inspiring, and 
the spirit of union which prevailed illustrated the devel- 
opment of the liberal principles upon which Union Col- 
lege was founded. 

A great audience gathered in the evening to hear the 
baccalaureate sermon which was delivered by the Right 
Rev. William Croswell Doane, Bishop of Albany. Presi- 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOKATION. 21 

dent Raymond conducted the devotional exercises. In 
introducing the preacher he commented upon the fact 
that the Eight Rev. George W. Doane, Bishop of New 
Jersey, was present at the semi-centennial of Union Col- 
lege fifty years ago, and expressed great pleasure that 
the son of the distinguished prelate who participated in 
the former celebration was to have part in the exercises 
of this occasion. The sermon was addressed especially to 
the graduating class and forcibly urged the responsibili- 
ties of young men. 

Monday was devoted exclusively to the discussion of 
educational problems by men of reputation and achieve- 
ment in school, college, and university work. The sev- 
eral papers and addresses were listened to with absorbing- 
interest by audiences largely composed of educators, 
and elicited lively and earnest discussion. A pleasant 
diversion in the exercises of the day came in the after- 
noon, when a spirited athletic contest was held under the 
direction of the Athletic Track Association on the college 
oval. 

Tuesday, Alumni Day, was the day of all days to the 
older graduates. The program followed the usual cus- 
tom, the annual meetings of the Phi Beta Kappa and 
Sigma Xi being the first order of business. 

The meeting of the Phi Beta Kappa, which was largely 
attended, assembled in the Washburne Building. Offi- 
cers were elected, and matters of interest to the Chapter 
were considered. 

At the Sigma Xi meeting in the adjoining room, 
amendments to the constitution were acted upon, and 
other business was transacted. 

At ten o'clock the annual meeting of the Alumni Asso- 
ciation was called to order by the President, Hon. Amasa 
J. Parker. A committee was appointed to nominate offi- 
cers for the ensuing year. Hon. D. C. Robinson, Rev. 
Stealy B. Rossiter, D. D., and Mr. Gr. R. Bailey were ap- 
2* 



22 UNION COLLEGE. 

pointed a committee to solicit subscriptions for the pur- 
pose of purchasing the library of the late Tayler Lewis, 
and at once began their work with gratifying success. 

The Nominating Committee reported the following list 
of officers for the ensuing year: President, Hon. Amasa 
J. Parker ; Vice-President, Rev. Charles D. Nott, D. D. - ? 
Secretary, William T. Clute, M. D. ; Treasurer, Herman V. 
Mynderse, M. D. ; Executive Committee, William H. Mc- 
Elroy, Edward P. White, Nelson Millard, James Heatley, 
and Alonzo P. Strong. The persons named were duly 
elected. 

A committee of five of the Alumni were appointed to 
confer with the Trustees for the purpose of advancing the 
financial interests of the college. President Parker ap- 
pointed Rev. Daniel Addison, Rev. Teunis S. Hamlin, 
D. D., Rev. William D. Maxon, D. D., Hon. George E. 
Hazelton, and Courtland V. Anable, Esq., as such Com- 
mittee. 

Shortly after one o'clock the Alumni adjourned to Me- 
morial Hall for the centennial banquet, at which more 
than five hundred guests assembled. This occasion was 
one of great enthusiasm and enjoyment. Repeated bursts 
of cheering and song punctuated the proceedings. Presi- 
dent Raymond presided with marked grace and dignity 
and introduced the distinguished representatives of sister 
colleges. 

After the banquet the ivy exercises of the Class of '95 
were held in the college garden under the historic elm so 
familiar to all sons of Union. 

The reception given by President and Mrs. Raymond 
at five o'clock was largely attended by the Alumni. 

The exercises of Tuesday evening consisted of com- 
memorative addresses and the delivery of the centennial 
poem. The meeting was presided over by Rev. Charles 
D. Nott, D. D., '54. Hon. George E. Danforth, LL. D., '40, 
and Rev. Stealy B. Rossiter, D. D., '65, were the speakers. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOKATION. 23 

The centennial poem, entitled " The Roll Call," was read 
by Hon. William H. McElroy, LL. D„, '61. One of the 
greatest throngs of the commencement week was in at- 
tendance, and the attention of the vast audience was sus- 
tained to the very close. 

Wednesday was Memorial Day. The exercises were 
opened by General Daniel Butterfield from the steps of 
the Library. In concluding his introductory speech he 
said, " Let the flag be raised over old Union," and with 
his closing words the stars and stripes were hoisted above 
the Memorial Building. 

Major Austin A. Yates, the orator of the occasion, 
awakened great enthusiasm by his address on " The Col- 
lege in Patriotic Service." Weston Flint, '47, then read 
an original patriotic poem entitled, " The Old Flag." 

The second session of the day was held in the tent 
erected at the east of the chapel. The topic was " The 
College in Professional Life." W. H. H. Moore, '44, 
presided, but during the closing part of the exercises 
yielded the chair to his classmate, Rev. Philip Phelps, 
D. D. The three great professions, — law, divinity, and 
medicine, — were ably represented by Hon. J. Newton 
Fiero, '67, Rev. Teunis S. Hamlin, '67, and Major John 
Van R. Hoff, M. D., U. S. A., '71. 

After these exercises the annual base-ball game between 
the Alumni and University nines afforded much amuse- 
ment. 

At one o'clock the Alumni again assembled in the Me- 
morial Building for the annual banquet. Hon. Amasa 
J. Parker, president of the Alumni Association, acted 
as toast-master. President Raymond made several an- 
nouncements of gifts to the college and introduced 
Professor Charles F. Richardson, of Dartmouth College, 
who had been prevented from attending the banquet of 
the day previous. The regular order of toasts was then 
followed. 



24 UNION COLLEGE. 

Hon. Silas B. Brownell, Chairman of the Board of Trus- 
tees, in responding for that body, said, in the course of 
his speech: 

At this time last year, but not in this place, I had the pleasure 
to assist, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, in the inauguration 
of our President. I then foreshadowed, from what we knew of 
him, what we might expect of him. To-day, fellow alumni, you 
see what has already been accomplished. [Applause.] Not 
alone does the occasion bring you all up here. Not alone have 
the hundred years that are gone and our hopes for the unknown 
years ahead brought you here. But a great element in bringing 
you here has been the feeling that during the past year we have 
thrown to the winds our fears and that we are now enjoying the 
prospects for the future which have been eloquently pictured 
more than once on this occasion. We, gentlemen of the alumni, 
feel that we have the right man in the right place. [Applause.] 

I want to call the attention of the alumni to one other thing, a 
thing which I am sure has impressed the Board of Trustees both 
officially and individually. We know, gentlemen, that in this 
country there are millions upon millions now seeking investment 
in the direction, as has been said by the last speaker, of speciali- 
zation in education ; and as long as any institution shows that it 
is worthy of confidence and support, and worthy to be the object 
of individual beneficence, so long it may rely upon the American 
people to furnish the means which are necessary to carry out 
well-designed and well-executed systems of education. What we 
want and what we are likely to get are clearly shown by the two 
notices which President Raymond has just read of offers to es- 
tablish fellowships. These two funds are for university work, 
for post-graduate study — I call your attention to that fact : 
they were each given for education in the law. 

Now I say, as the distinguished Dartmouth orator has said, we 
have Union College. Look at what she has done. Look at what 
she is doing, and what we may expect her to do in the future, in 
the century which is just before her. So long as time endures, 
will endure institutions of learning which repose in the confi- 
dence of the people. Under all dynasties, through all changes, 
through all revolutions, they continue so long as they deserve to 
continue. We of the Board of Trustees charge you that, as we 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOEATION. 25 

deserve your support, as Union College deserves your support, 
you should contribute to it. 

Melville D. Landon, of the class of '61, better known as 
"Eli Perkins," followed with one of his inimitable speeches 
full of wit and humor, which provoked great merriment. 
Hon. James L. Meredith responded for the Class of '65 ; 
Henry C. Hodgkins, for the Class of '75 ; Hon. Wallace P. 
Foote, for the Class of '85 ; and Rockwell H. Potter, for 
the Class of '95. Professor George W. Clarke spoke briefly 
for the Class of '40 ; Rev. S. Mills Day for the Class of '50. 
Hon. John M. Bailey, of the Class of '61, responded to 
repeated calls from the audience. Professor John F. 
G-enung, of Amherst College, represented the Class of '70, 
and made the closing speech, in which he referred to the 
fact that the Amherst Classes of 1823 and 1824 had re- 
ceived their degrees from Union College. 

Immediately after the banquet the Alumni and their 
guests repaired to the tent on the campus to celebrate 
the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Engineer- 
ing School. President Cady Staley, of the Case School 
of Applied Science, who was for many years in charge of 
this department, presided. At the close of his address 
President Staley introduced his successor in that office, 
Professor Brown, who made a brief address. Hon. War- 
ner Miller, of the Class of '60, then claimed the interest of 
the great audience while he spoke upon " The College in 
Industrial and Commercial Life." In closing the exer- 
cises President Raymond called attention to the broad- 
ness of the engineering course, and presented Prof. Olin 
H. Landreth, of the Class of '76, the recently elected head 
of the Engineering Department. 

In the evening, at the First Presbyterian Church, oc- 
curred the last of the college commemorative exercises. 
Hon. Silas B. Brownell, Chairman of the Board of Trus- 
tees, introduced the presiding officer of the evening, John 



26 UNION COLLEGE. 

Grary Evans, of the Class of '83, G-overnor of South Caro- 
lina, who after a brief address introduced the other speak- 
ers of the evening, Hon. David C. Robinson, of the Class 
of '65, and Hon. Charles Emory Smith, LL. D., of the 
Class of '60, late Minister to Russia. The college glee 
club furnished delightful music for the occasion, and the 
great throng present indicated that popular interest in 
the celebration was unabated. 

Thursday, Commencement Day, dawned bright and 
beautiful. At nine o'clock in the morning the procession 
formed along the terrace on College Hill in the following 
order: First, the undergraduates in the order of their 
classes, freshmen in front ; next, the Alumni in the order 
of their classes, the more recent graduates in front ; third, 
the Faculty ; fourth, distinguished visitors ; fifth, the 
Board of Trustees and the President. The procession, 
in impressive numbers, marched down Union Street to 
the First Presbyterian Church, where they were joined by 
the Honorary Chancellor. Ranks were opened, and in 
inverse order the procession passed up the long approach 
and entered the old church in which so many college 
functions have been performed. 

The graduating exercises of the Class of '95 were 
opened with the singing of the hymn : 

From all that dwell below the skies 

Let the Creator's praise arise ; 
Let the Redeemer's name be sung 

Through every laud, by every tongue. 

Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord ! 

Eternal truth attends Thy word : 
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore 

Till suns shall rise and set no more. 

Rev. Robert Russell Booth, D. D., Moderator of the 
Presbyterian G-eneral Assembly, offered the invocation. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION. 27 

The orators of the Centennial Class then performed their 
parts as indicated in the program. The University cele- 
bration followed. The enthusiasm of the crowded audi- 
ence reached its climax when Rev. Eliphalet Nott Potter, 
D. D., President of Hobart College, introduced his bro- 
ther, the Right Rev. Henry C. Potter, D. D., Bishop of 
New York, who as Honorary Chancellor of the University 
delivered the centennial oration. 

President Raymond then advanced and said : 

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I wish to announce 
the election yesterday of a life trustee, Nicholas Van 
Vranken Franchot, of Olean, of the Class of '75. 

The members of the Graduating Class will now present 
themselves for their degrees. 

The class marching up the central aisle filled the plat- 
form, and were addressed by the President as follows : 

Young gentlemen of the Graduating Class, — It now be- 
comes my pleasant duty to confer upon you the de- 
grees to which you are entitled. I had thought at one 
time of addressing to you a few personal words ; but 
surely after the words to which you have just listened, 
no further speech is needed. You must have caught the 
spirit of that centennial oration and of all the exercises of 
this centennial week, and realize that if your lives are to 
attain the ends which, iu your hopes and your prayers, 
you set before you, it will be not only by devotion to 
your work, but by the cultivation of a spirit that brings 
you into sympathy with all that is best in man, in sym- 
pathy with God Himself. And so, in the name of Him 
who has given unto us and to all men the truth, I bid you 
go forth on your mission of blessing this world. 

The Board of Trustees, upon recommendation of the 
Faculty of Union College, have granted the degree of 



28 UNION COLLEGE. 

Bachelor of Arts to the following members of the Senior 
Class : 

Theodore Floyd Bayles ...... West Kortright. 

James Michael Cass Watauga, Tenn. 

Harvey Clements Schenectady. 

James Alexander Collins Amsterdam. 

Albert S. Cox Schenectady. 

Clarke Winslow Crannell .... Albany. 
Bartholomew Howard . . . . . North Brookfield, Mass. 

Walter Stuart McEwan Loudonville. 

Howard Pemberton, 2d Albany. 

Rockwell Harmon Potter Glenville. 

William John Sanderson Walton. 

Armon Spencer Newark. 

GEORGE LlNIUS STREETER Johnstown. 

Frank Vander Bogert Schenectady. 

John N. V. Vedder Schenectady. 

And the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy to the fol- 
lowing : 

Arthur Elijah Barnes Clyde. 

Edgar Brown Manchester. 

William Grant Brown Manchester. 

Clarke Day Cambridge. 

Loren C. Guernsey East Cobleskill. 

George A. Johnston Palatine Bridge. 

Willoughby Lord Sawyer Sandy Hill. 

Merton R. Skinner Le Roy. 

Scott Winpield Skinner Le Roy. 

William Edward Walker Schenectady. 

William L. Wilson Scotia. 

And the degree of Bachelor of Science to the following : 

William Allen Clyde. 

Alphonso Dix Bissell Le Roy. 

Henry Ravenel Dwight Charleston, S. C. 

Duryea Beekman Eldredge Sharon. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOEATION. 29 

Frederick Klein Gloversville. 

Lauriston Job Lane Sao Paulo, Brazil. 

Horatio M. Pollock Schenectady. 

Orman M. West Middleburgh. 

W. Howard Wright Schenectady. 

And the degree of Bachelor of Engineering; to the fol- 
lowing : 

Miles Ayrault, Jr Tonawanda. 

Henry Mayberry Bailey Franklin, Tenn. 

Carl L. Bannister Le Roy. 

Warren R. Borst Albany. 

Bryan Ogden Burgin Walton. 

John A. Clark, Jr Sidney. 

Frederick Marshall Fames Albany. 

Isaac Harby Sumter, S. C. 

Francis Edward Holleban Waterloo. 

Howard M. Jones Murfreesboro, Tenn. 

John Young La very Brooklyn. 

Edward Van Rensselaer Payne . . . Bangall. 

Edward Shalders Rio Janeiro, Brazil. 

Sanpord L. Vossler St. Johnsville. 

And now by virtue of the authority committed to me 
by the Board of Trustees of Union College, I confer upon 
you the degrees mentioned in connection with your 
names, and salute you in the name of the Board of Trus- 
tees of Union College as Bachelors of Art, Bachelors 
of Philosophy, Bachelors of Science, and Bachelors of 
Engineering. 

[diplomas presented.] 

By virtue of the authority committed to me by the 
Board of Trustees of Union College, on this centennial of 
the founding of the College, in the presence of the alumni 
and friends of Union College, I am now to confer the 



30 UNION COLLEGE. 

honorary degrees within the gift of the College upon gen- 
tlemen distinguished in learning and in service. 

Charles F. Richardson, Professor of English in Dart- 
mouth College. 

William MacDonald, Professor of History and Sociol- 
ogy in Bowdoin College. 

Benjamin H. Eipton, Professor of History and Sociol- 
ogy in Union College. 

I create you Doctors in Philosophy and bid you enjoy 
all the rights, privileges, and honors pertaining to this 
degree, and direct that your names be enrolled as honor- 
ary graduates of Union College. 

Oeen Root, Professor of Mathematics in Hamilton 
College, I create you a Doctor of Letters, and bid you 
enjoy all the rights, privileges, and honors of this degree, 
and direct that your name be enrolled as an honorary 
graduate of Union College. 

Rev. Augustus W. Cowles, of the Class of '41, founder 
and president of the Elmira Female College. The name 
which I next announce is one which brings response 
from the heart of every graduate of Union College — we 
only regret that he cannot be present with us at this 
time : the Rev. John W. Nott, of the Class of '46. These 
I now create Doctors of Divinity and bid them enjoy all 
the rights, privileges, and honors pertaining to this de- 
gree, and direct that their names be enrolled as honorary 
graduates of Union College. 

George Herbert Palmer, Professor of Ethics in Harvard Col- 
lege. 

Henry Parks Wright, Dean of Yale College. 

John Haskell HewitT, Professor of Ancient Languages in 
Williams College. 

John H. Van Amringe, Dean of the School of Arts in Colum- 
bia College. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOKATION. 31 

Anson D. Morse, Professor of History in Amherst College. 
William G. Hale, Professor of Latiu in Chicago University. 
John Randolph Tucker, of Washington and Lee University. 
J. Rupus Tryon, Class of '58, Surgeon-General in the United 
States Navy. 

I create you Doctors of Law, and bid you enjoy all the 
rights, privileges, and honors pertaining to this degree, 
and direct that your names be enrolled as honorary grad- 
uates of Union College. 

The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was also con- 
ferred upon Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer, formerly Presi- 
dent of Wellesley College. 

The audience then arose and sang with great enthu- 
siasm the 



SONG TO OLD UNION. 

BY FITZHUGH LUDLOW, '56. 

Let the Grecian dream of his sacred stream, 

And sing of the brave adorning 
That Phoebus weaves from his laurel leaves 

At the golden gates of morning; 
But the brook that bounds through Union's grounds 

Gleams bright as the Delphic water, 
And a prize as fair as a god may wear 

Is a dip. from our Alma Mater. 

Chorus. — Then here 's to thee, the brave and free ; 
Old Union smiliug o'er us; 
And for many a day, as thy walls grow gray, 
May they ring with thy children's chorus. 

Could our praises throng on the waves of song, 

Like an Orient fleet gem-bringing, 
We would bear to thee the argosy, 

And crown thee with pearls of singing. 



32 UNION COLLEGE. 

But thy smile beams down beneath a crown, 

Whose glory asks no other ; 
We gather it not from the green sea-grot — 

'T is the love we bear our mother. 

Chorus. — Then here 's to thee, etc. 

Let the joy that falls from thy dear old walls, 

Unchanged, brave time's on-darting, 
And our only tear fall once a year 

On hands that clasp ere parting ; 
And when other throngs shall sing our songs, 

And their spell once more hath bound us, 
Our faded hours shall revive their flowers, 

And the past shall live around us. 

Chobus. — Then here 's to thee, etc. 
Prizes were then awarded as follows : 

The Warner Prize, to Rockwell H. Potter, 

The Ingham Prize, to Harvey Clements. 

The Allen Prizes, to John N. V. Vedder, Harmon Spencer, and 
Albert. S. Cox. 

The Clark Prizes, to George J. Dann and D. Howard Craver. 

Junior Oratorical Prizes, to George J. Dann and D. Howard 
Craver. 

Sophomore Oratorical Prizes, to Howard R. Furbeck and Ira 
Hotaling-. 

Engineering Prize, to F. M. Bames, E. Van R. Payne, and Ed- 
ward Shalders. 

The Gilbert K. Harroun Prize, to John N. V. Vedder. 

The Blatchford Oratorical Medals, to John N. V. Vedder and 
Rockwell H. Potter. 

Special Honors, awarded by vote of the Faculty, were 
announced as follows: 

In Biology, Edgar Brown, Albert S. Cox, Henry R. Dwight, 
L. J. Lane, Horatio M. Pollock, George L. Streeter, 
Orman West. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMORATION. 33 

In Chemistry, William E. Walker, W. Howard Wright. 

In English, Theodore F. Bayles. 

In French, Loren C. Guernsey, Horatio M. Pollock, Edward 

Shalders. 
In German, Edgar Brown, Loren C. Guernsey, George A. 

Johnston, Frederick Klein, Howard Pemberton 2d, 

George, L. Streeter. 
In Mathematics, John N. V. Vedder. 
In Physics, John N. V. Vedder. 
In Philosophy, Rockwell H. Potter. 
In Latin, Theodore F. Bayles. 
In Greek, Rockwell H. Potter. 



In awarding the Bntterfield prizes, President Raymond 
introduced the founder of this lecture course, General 
Butterfield, who said : 

Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees 
and of the Faculty, Graduates and Undergraduates: Most 
of you have been aware of the purposes and uses of this 
course of lectures. The report, necessarily voluminous, 
was printed and distributed to avoid taking up the time 
set apart for the award of the prizes and diplomas by 
reading it. 

This course of lectures had its origin at a dinner of the 
New York Alumni Association in the City of New York, 
at which were recalled Dr. Nott and his talks to students 
in the days when I was here, where you young gentlemen 
are now, and the value of the discourses which he secured 
to the students by bringing here eminent men to speak 
before them. This course of lectures I offered to the 
college at that dinner, with a series of prizes to be con- 
nected with it. If you find any value of an educational 
and practical character in these lectures, please remem- 
ber, young gentlemen, in the future, that they came 
through the intercourse of alumni in the pleasures of an 
3 



34 UNION COLLEGE. 

alumni association reunion. You should all join one in 
your various localities. I hope that in the future these 
may be the means of prompting other good works for our 
Alma Mater. 

The full award of prizes cannot be made at this time. 
As you will find stated in the Report, the three schools, 

— the Union Classical Institute of Schenectady, the Coop- 
erstown Union School, and the Cobleskill High School, 

— all stand very high for the $150 prizes awarded to the 
preparatory school or teachers whose pupils gain the 
highest number of special prizes and the highest number 
of marks. The remaining lectures to be given may 
change the status of the school which now stands highest. 
Of course it becomes the teachers of the preparatory 
schools to enter the largest number of freshmen possible 
in the next year's classes. 

The awards and marks were made by separate judges 
upon each lecture. Double Firsts in those awards were 
Douglass Campbell, Class of '94 ; Major Allen Twiford, of 
the Class of '96 ; Horatio M. Pollock, of the Class of '95 ; 
and Roscoe Guernsey, of the Class of '96. Awards of 
special prizes were to Roger Griswold Perkins, '94 ; Fred- 
erick M. Eames, '95; Norman E. Webster, '96; Clark 
Winslow Crannell, '95; Edwin Gr. Conde, '93; John Y. 
Lavery, '95; Raymond A. Lansing, '94; Theodore F. 
Bayles, '95 ; William D. Reed, '98 ; D. Howard Craver, '96 ; 
and Paul Canfield, '97. Those entitled to " Very High 
Class Competition Diplomas" are Charles A. Burbank, 
'93 ; John Van Schaick, Jr., '94 ; Edward K. Nicholson, 
'96; Laurance C. Baker, '95; George H. Hoxie, '93; Allen 
Wright, Jr., '93; Frederick Todd, '97; James M. Cass, '95; 
and Harris Lee Cooke, '94. 



These prizes were presented, and the exercises were 
closed with the benediction pronounced by Bishop Potter. 



SKETCH OF THE COMMEMOKATION. 35 

Thus ended the official exercises of the most memor- 
able commencement in Union's history. 

A great throng of alumni and citizens attended the 
President's reception in the evening. This was followed 
by the commencement ball given by the members of the 
graduating class. Memorial Hall was gorgeously illu- 
minated and decorated for the most brilliant social func- 
tion that College Hill had ever known. 

From beginning to close the Centennial Celebration 
proved a most gratifying success. " Old Union " was fit- 
tingly honored, and fresh inspiration was gathered from 
the past for the new century upon which she entered. 



HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE 

BY ROBERT C. ALEXANDER, 



Of the Class of 1880. 



THE history of Union College, in its origin and during 
its early years, is a narrative of toil, sacrifice, faith, 
constancy, indomitable energy, and ultimate success. Long 
before its incorporation the struggle began. As early as 
1779 petitions were circulated, addressed to the Governor 
and Legislature, in response to which a charter was 
drawn, but for some reason never signed or sealed. It 
recited that 

"Whereas a great number of respectable inhabitants 
of the counties of Albany, Tryon (Montgomery), and 
Charlotte (Washington), taking into consideration the 
great benefit of a good education, the disadvantages 
they labor under for want of means of acquiring it, and 
the loud call there now is, and no doubt will be in a 
future day, for men of learning to fill the several offices 
of Church and State, and looking upon the town of Schen- 
ectady as in every respect the most suitable and commo- 
dious seat for a seminary of learning in this State, or per- 
haps in America, have presented their humble petition 
to the Governor and Legislature of this State, earnestly 
requesting that a number of gentlemen may be incorpor- 
ated in a body politic, who shall be empowered to erect a 

3# 37 



38 UNION COLLEGE. 

college in the place aforesaid, to hold sufficient funds for 
its support, to make proper laws for its government, and 
to confer degrees." This institution was to have been 
called Clinton College, in honor of New York's great 
Governor. It contemplated the creation of a corporate 
body by an executive act, therein following the colonial 
precedents. Seven years later the Board of Regents of 
the University was created, and upon that Board there- 
after devolved the chartering of New York colleges. 
The petition of the "respectable inhabitants" seems to 
have been favorably received, but the exigencies of the 
war probably diverted attention from the project for the 
time, and the unsealed charter in the State Library at 
Albany contains all that is known to-day of " Clinton 
College." 

But the widespread belief that there should be a col- 
lege in Schenectady was too deep-rooted to be readily 
abandoned. Dominie Dirck Romeyn, pastor of the Re- 
formed Dutch Church in Schenectady, who more than 
any other man is entitled to be styled the founder of 
Union College, was unremitting in his efforts to secure 
the charter, as is evident from his letters during the 
period 1779-1795. 

Again, in 1779, as appears from the Assembly Journal 
of that year, " a petition was received from John Cuyler, 
and 542 inhabitants of Albany and Tryon counties, and 
from Thomas Clarke and 131 others of Charlotte County, 
for a college in Schenectady." No action seems to have 
been taken on the petition. 

An interesting recital is that which follows, contained 
in the memorial of 1795 to the Board of Regents : 

"In the year 1782 the citizens of the northern and 
western parts of this State, together with the inhabitants 
of the Town of Schenectady, amounting to near 1200 
subscribers, applied to the Legislature, in session in the 
town of Kingston, for the institution of a college in the 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 



39 



Town of Schenectady, for founding which the citizens of 
Schenectady alone proposed an estate valued at nearly 
eight thousand pounds principal." 

That is all history tells us of the application of 1782, 
but in the light of those thrilling times, how eloquent it 
is of the spirit which animated the Revolutionary patri- 
ots ! The war had not yet closed. The smoke was still 
rising from the smoldering ruins of burned habitations 
on the northern and western borders, and the echo of the 
Indian warwhoop had not yet died away in the Valley of 
the Mohawk. The long struggle for liberty had left the 
people decimated, 

weary, and im- t ^^, 

poverished. Yet ^^B „ .-__. 

twelve hundred of 
the citizens on the 
northern and west- 
ern frontier sub- 
scribed from their 
meager fortunes to 
the cause of higher 
learning, and the 
citizens of Sche- 
nectady alone pro- 
posed to contribute 
to the new college 
a sum of eight thousand pounds. The extent of this 
sacrifice is apparent when it is remembered that by the 
State census fourteen years later the whole population 
of the town was but 3472, " of whom 683 are electors and 
381 slaves." Yet this second applicatiou, even with so 
much of heroic self-sacrifice behind it, fared no better 
than that for Clinton College. 

In February, 1785, measures were taken for the estab- 
lishment of a private academy in Schenectady, by mutual 
agreement amoug leading citizens, and it was placed in 




UNION COLLEGE IN 1795. 



40 UNION COLLEGE. 

the charge of twelve trustees. An academy building was 
erected a few years later on the northwest corner of what 
are now Union and Ferry streets. It was of brick, two 
stories high, about fifty by thirty feet on the ground 
plan, and cost about $3000. It afterwards became Union 
College, and was its only edifice until 1804. The school 
was opened under the care of Colonel John Taylor, of 
New Jersey, and appears to have been conducted with 
much ability, being well sustained by the community in 
which it was planted. This academy was the germ of 
Union College. 

In December, 1791, the managers of the academy in 
Schenectady memorialized the Legislature for a grant of 
land in the Oneida Reservation to their institution, "in 
order to be in possession of an estate that would enable 
them at an early day to apply to the Regents for incor- 
poration as a college and to have an amount of property 
that would justify the establishment of a college." The 
Assembly records show that the Committee reported it to 
be " derogatory to the interest of the State to grant the 
request." 

In February, 1792, the trustees of the academy sent 
another petition to the Regents, in which they stated 
that they had at that time about eighty students in the 
English language, and that they had nearly twenty pur- 
suing the study of the learned languages and higher 
branches, in preparation for the first or more advanced 
classes in college. They were fully convinced of their 
ability to establish and maintain a college, and had made 
efforts that led them to depend confidently upon rais- 
ing the fund needed for endowment, and asked for a col- 
lege charter. As a foundation for their fund, the Town 
of Schenectady was willing to convey to the trustees of 
a college as soon as they were appointed, and by good 
and ample title, a tract of land containing 5000 acres. A 
pledge of 700 acres more was offered from individuals, 



HISTOKY OF THE COLLEGE. 41 

and a further subscription of nearly a thousand pounds 
in money, to be paid in four instalments, was promised 
from citizens. The consistory of the Dutch Church of- 
fered to give the building called the " Academy " for col- 
lege use, and not to be alienated, estimated as worth 
£1500, and a sum of money collected for a library, 
amounting to £250 was likewise to be given. 

But as these funds could not be realized or applied un- 
less there was created a Board of Trustees capable of 
holding them, they prayed for an act of incorporation 
from the Regents, with all the powers and privileges con- 
ferred by law upon Columbia College, and that the name 
of the institution should be " The College of Schenectady." 

The Regents on the 27th of March denied this applica- 
tion upon the ground that sufficient funds had not been 
provided. 

Failing in this effort, an application was made in No- 
vember of the same year for the incorporation of the 
private institution as the "Academy of the Town of 
Schenectady." This application was successful, and an 
academic charter was granted in January, 1793. 

Early in 1794, the Regents were again petitioned for a 
college charter for the academy, but this was denied upon 
the ground that the state of literature in the academy did 
not appear to be far enough advanced, or its funds suf- 
ficient to warrant its erection into a college. 

On December 18, 1794, was presented the final and suc- 
cessful petition to the Board of Regents. It thus begins : 

" We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the northern and 
western counties of the State of New York, taking into 
view the growing population of these counties, and sen- 
sible of the necessity and importance of facilitating the 
means of acquiring useful knowledge, make known that 
we are minded to establish a College upon the following 
principles : 

" 1. A college shall be founded in the town of Schenec- 



42 UNION COLLEGE. 

tady, County of Albany, and State of New York, to be 
called and known by the name of Union College. 

"2. The said college shall be under the direction and 
government of twenty-four trustees, the majority of which 
trustees shall not at any time be composed of persons of 
the same religious sect or denomination." 

These two provisions mark a new era in the history 
of American colleges. Of the colleges which antedated 
Union, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Williams were 
distinctly Congregational ; William and Mary, St. John's, 
and Columbia, Episcopal ; Brown, Baptist ; Princeton 
and Hampden-Sidney, Presbyterian ; Rutgers, Reformed 
Dutch; and Dickinson, Methodist. Union was the 
first strictly non-sectarian college in the country. The 
name itself was given as expressing the intention of 
uniting all religious sects in a common interest and for 
the common good, by offering equal advantages to all, 
with preference to none. It was designed to found an 
institution upon the broad basis of Christian unity, and 
this idea has ever since been faithfully followed in the 
spirit of the original intention, no particular religious de- 
nomination having at any time claimed or attempted to 
control its management, or to influence the choice of trus- 
tees or faculty. Its motto, " In necessariis unitas, in dubiis 
libertas, in omnibus caritas," has been characteristic of the 
perfect harmony and genuine catholicity which have 
marked its entire history. 

At last success crowned the efforts of the " citizens," 
and on February 25, 1795, a charter was granted to Union 
College, naming twenty-four trustees, giving full power 
for granting degrees, and the most ample guarantees 
against denominational control. The chronicles of the 
day record that the granting of the charter, when the 
news reached Schenectady, was celebrated by great re- 
joicing, with the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, dis- 
play of flags, bonfires, and a general illumination. 



HISTOKY OF THE COLLEGE. 43 

Next to Dominie Romeyn, to General Philip Schuyler 
belongs the honor of establishing the college at Schenec- 
tady. The City of Albany had offered strong pecuniary 
inducements for making the capital the site of the col- 
lege, but the vigorous efforts of General Schuyler so rein- 
forced the Schenectady petition that it secured the young 
institution for that town. The following letter from 
General Schuyler to Dr. Romeyn, announcing the signa- 
ture of the charter, evinces the hearty interest he felt in 
the new college : 

Albany, March 2, 1795. 

Reverend and Dear Sir : On Wednesday last the engrossed 
charter was submitted to the Regents and approved of, and on 
Friday the seal of the University was affixed thereto, with the 
Chancellor's signature, — an event the more satisfactory to me 
as I have long since wished to see the vicinity of my native place 
honored with such an institution, and I sincerely congratulate 
my fellow-citizens of Schenectady in particular, and the whole of 
the Northern and Western parts of the State in general, on the 
facility with which they will be able to obtain a collegiate edu- 
cation for their children. May indulgent Heaven protect and 
cherish an Institution calculated to promote virtue and the weal 
of the people. Please to request the gentlemen to whom has 
been confided the subscription paper to the funds of the college 
to add my name to the list for one hundred pounds. I shall 
strive to procure a donation on the part of this State, and as I 
have already conversed with some leading members on the sub- 
ject, I trust my efforts will be successful. The charter, with all 
the evidences of the funds, are, by order of the Regents, to be 
delivered to one of the trustees of the college. If Chief Justice 
Yates does not come down, they will be delivered to one of the 
gentlemen here, to be delivered to him as the first trustee named 
in the act of incorporation. I am with great regard, Reverend 
Sir, Your most obedient servant, 

Ph. Schuyler. 

The Rev. Dr. Romeyn. 



44 



UNION COLLEGE. 



A subsequent act of the Legislature, April 6, 1795, au- 
thorized the trustees of the academy to convey, and those 
of the college to accept, the academy building on Union 
and Ferry streets. The transfer was accordingly made. 
The college was organized on the 19th of October, 1795, 
by the election of the Rev. John Blair Smith, D. D., of 
Philadelphia, as president ; John Taylor, A. M., as pro- 
fessor of mathematics 
and natural philos- 
ophy; and the Rev. 
Andrew Yates, as 
professor of the Latin 
and Greek languages. 
The first commence- 
ment was held in 
May, 1797, in the old 
Reformed Dutch 
Church, and the first 
degrees conferred 
upon three young 
men who had fin- 
ished the course of 
study then required. 
This was an occasion 
of signal and novel 
interest to all the 
country around, and drew together a lai-ge and enthusi- 
astic audience. These three graduates were, Cornelius 
D. Schermerhorn, of Greenbush; Joseph Sweetman, of 
Charlton, and John L. Zabriskie, of Schenectady. 

The two latter were both living at the semi-centennial 
of the college in 1845, and the Rev. Dr. Sweetman delivered 
the anniversary address on that interesting occasion. 

A manuscript report of the Board of Regents to the 
Legislature, March 6, 1797, signed by Chancellor John 
Jay, and now in the Union College library, shows the 




REV. JOHN BLAIR SMITH, D. D. 



HISTOEY OP THE COLLEGE. 45 

progress made by the new college during its first two 
years. An extract is appended : 

UNION COLLEGE. 

From the report of a Committee of the Trustees it appears 
that the Property of the College consists in various articles to 
the following amount, namely : 

Drs. cts. 
Bonds and Mortgages producing an annual Interest 

of 7 per cent 21,301 

Subscriptions and other Debts due on the Books of 

the Treasurer 4,983 10 

Cash appropriated for the purchase of Books .... 1,356 45 

House & Lot for the President 3,500 

Lot for the Scite of the College 3,250 

House & Lot heretofore occupied for the Academy — 

a donation from the Consistory of the Dutch 

Church 5,000 

Books &c. in the possession of the Trustees and on 

the way from Europe 2,381 99 

Cash appropriated by the Regents for the purchase of 

Books in the hands of the Committee 400 

Legacy by Abraham Yates, Junr., Esq., of Albany . 250 



42,422 60 



and 160 acres of land. 



The Faculty of the College at present consists of the President 
and one Tutor, and the salary of the former, with an House for 
his Family is 1100 dollars ; and of the latter 665 dollars per An- 
num, with an additional allowance at present of 250 dollars on 
account of the extraordinary price of the necessaries of life. 
There are thirty-seven Students, eight in the Class of Languages, 
twenty in the Class of History and Belles Lettres, six in the 
Class of Mathematics, and three in the Class of Philosophy. The 
Course of Studies is, the first year, Virgil, Cicero's Oration, 
Creek Testament, Lucian, Roman Antiquities, Arithmetic, and 
English Grammar ; the second year, Geography and the use of 



46 



UNION COLLEGE. 



the Globes, Roman history, History of America and the Amer- 
ican Revolution, Xenophon, Horace, Criticism, and Eloquence ; 
the third year, the various Branches of Mathematics and Vul- 
gar and Decimal Frac- 
tions, and the Extrac- 
tion of the Roots, 
Geometry, Algebra, 
Trigonometry, Navi- 
gation, Mensuration, 
Xenophon, continued, 
and Homer; and the 
fourth and last year, 
Natural Philosophy, 
the Constitution of the 
United States and of 
the different States, 
Metaphysics, or at least 
that part which treats 
of the Philosophy of the 
Human mind, Horace 
continued, and Longi- 
nus, and during the 
course of these studies 
the attention of the classes is particularly required to Elocution, 
and to Composition in the English language. A Provision is also 
made for substituting the knowledge of the French Language 
instead of Greek, in certain cases, if the funds should hereafter 
admit of instituting a French professorship, the first optional 
course ; all which, together with the System of Discipline, is con- 
tained in a printed Copy of the Laws and Regulations for the 
Government of the College, and which accompanies this report. 
The Trustees farther report that the Officers of the College dis- 
charge their duty with ability, diligence and fidelity, and that 
the Students generally have exhibited specimens of their pro- 
gress in Science at the Examinations, which are public and 
stated three times a year; and finally that it would essentially 
promote the interest of that part of the Country if the Legisla- 
ture would patronize with further donations this infant Semi- 
nary ; the want of means to endow professorships obliges the 
present officers to attend to too many branches of Science ; in so 




REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS, D. D. 



HISTOKY OF THE COLLEGE. 



47 



much so that the President has during the present year instructed 
the Classes of History, Chronology, Antiquities, Geography, Na- 
tural and Moral Philosophy, Criticism, Logic, Constitution of the 
United States and of the different States and Languages. 

President Smith resigned in 1799, and was succeeded 
by Rev. Dr. Jonathan Edwards, the younger, who died 
in office in August, 1801. His successor was Rev. Dr. 
Jonathan Maxcy, who resigned in 1804. 

Although the college was still feeble, it was not with- 




UNION COLLEGE IN 1804. 



out enterprise. Under the presidency of Dr. Edwards, in 
1798, a new edifice was begun on a scale magnificent for 
that day. This building was afterward known as the 
" West College," located on the corner of Union and Col- 
lege streets, and was finished in 1804. It was in the 



48 UNION COLLEGE. 

Italian style of architecture, and from the designs of 
Philip Hooker, then an eminent architect of Albany. It 
was of stone, three stories high, besides a high basement, 
and was surmounted by a central cupola. The ground 
plan measured 150 by 60 feet, and the original cost was 
about $56,000, besides $4000 for the site. It contained a 
residence for the president, the chapel, library, and reci- 
tation-rooms, and a considerable number of dormitories. 
In 1815 it was sold to the city and county for a court- 
house, jail, and city offices, and while thus owned it was 
commonly known as the " City Hall." The college re- 
ceived in payment 3000 acres of land in detached parcels 
in various parts of Schenectady County. In 1831 it was 
repurchased by the college for $10,000, and used for the 
library, cabinets, and residence of freshmen and sopho- 
more classes until 1854. It was then resold to the city 
for the sum of $6000, and was used by the city as a union 
school until the year 1890, when it was demolished to 
make room for a modern school building. Between 1805 
and 1810 a row of two-story brick buildings was erected 
on College Street for use as dormitories. It was known 
as the " Long College," and was sold about 1830. 

An event occurred in 1804 which proved to be of pecu- 
liar and lasting advantage to the institution, and from 
which its success may be justly dated. This event was 
the choice of the Rev. Eliphalet Nott as president. Mr. 
Nott was then a young clergyman of Albany, known at 
the time as the eulogist of Hamilton, as an eloquent and 
effective public speaker, of dignified and courteous man- 
ners, and distinguished learning, but not as yet known for 
that talent in the education of young men which this 
election gave him the opportunity to exercise, and which 
has never been surpassed in the history of any American 
college. Endowed by nature with a keen perception of 
character, a discriminating judgment in developing la- 
tent talent, a dignity of manner commanding both love 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 



49 



and respect, a facility in governing yonng men, the secret 
of which lay in teaching them to govern themselves, and 
a zeal and earnestness in the discharge of every duty, he 
acquired and held through a long and active life a com- 
manding position as an educator. 
The financial history of Union College from this period 




REV. ELIPHALET NOTT, D. D., LL. D. 



until 1853 forms a chapter by itself. The lottery was the 
most beneficent institution of that day. Not only was 
it permitted, but it was specially authorized by law as a 
proper and legitimate method of raising money. It was 
regarded as perfectly innocent and unobjectionable, and 
was not only tolerated, but sustained and encouraged by 
the whole Christian community. Lotteries were em- 



50 UNION COLLEGE. 

ployed to secure funds for charities, for schools, for 
hospitals, for colleges, and for churches. It must not 
be thought strange, therefore, that a Christian minister 
like Dr. Nott, following the fashion of the day, invoked 
the aid of this popular device. 

When the new president assumed his office, the finances 
of the college were in a nearly desperate condition. Dur- 
ing the administrations of his three predecessors there 
had been a constant lack of funds to meet the regular 
current expenses of the college. The failure of Dr. 
Smith's expectations in this respect was one cause of 
his early retirement. Dr. Edwards died, after a short 
incumbency, weighed down with concern as to the fate 
of the institution placed under his charge. Dr. Maxcy 
was not more fortunate than his predecessors, and his 
short administration was a continuous struggle with 
financial embarrassment, from which extrication appeared 
hopeless. Less than $35,000 had been obtained from in- 
dividual subscriptions, and some of these were still un- 
paid. The State had at various times granted, in money 
or in lands afterward sold, property which availed $78,- 
112.13. The new building (West College) was still incom- 
plete, and the college was badly in debt. 

At this juncture the young Albany clergyman assumed 
the presidency. He at once applied to the State for aid, 
and in March, 1805, it came in the shape of the grant of 
the proceeds of four lotteries of $20,000 each. The re- 
turns, however, were slow, and in 1806 the Legislature 
borrowed $15,000 on the credit of the State and loaned it 
to the college, to be repaid from the proceeds of the lot- 
teries. In 1814, when the lotteries were wound up, the 
college had realized from them about $76,000, which was 
applied toward furnishing the equipment, edifices, and 
instruction necessary for the rapidly increasing number 
of students. 

A few years' experience showed that the site in the 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 51 

city was not sufficiently ample, and the observing eye 
of Dr. Nott, at an early period in his presidency, had 
noticed in the suburbs a better one, which combined in a 
rare degree every advantage desirable. On the eastern 
border of the city the fields rose by a gentle slope to a 
plain of moderate elevation and of easy access. Near 
the upper edge of this slope the construction of a terrace 
a few feet high would afford a level campus of ample 
space, and a site for buildings that would overlook the 
valley, the river, and the neighboring city, while north- 
ward glimpses of mountains blue in the distance, and 
south westward ranges of hills dividing the waters of the 
Mohawk and Susquehanna rivers, would present a pan- 
orama of peculiar loveliness. A gently murmuring brook 
issuing from dense woodlands flowed across the grounds 
just north of the proposed site, and in the rear alternat- 
ing fields and groves extended several miles eastward to 
the Hudson. 

A half century later, in an address before the gathered 
alumni of Union who had met to celebrate the anniver- 
sary of his accession to the presidency, Dr. Nott thus 
spoke of the new college grounds : 

Fifty years ago, having been charged with the supervision of 
Union College, I stood for the first time on yon rising grounds, 
where the college edifices now stand. The same range of 
western hills, the same intervening luxuriant flats, and the 
same qniet river, windiug through fields of grain whitening for 
the harvest, then met the eye; the same starry firmament over- 
spread the night, and the same glorious sunlight rendered visi- 
ble by day, in its general outline, the whole lovely Valley of 
the Mohawk. 

The immediate college grounds, however, now so symmetrical 
and ornate, were then mere pasture ground, scarred by deep 
ravines, rendered at once unsightly and difficult of access by an 
alternation of swamp and sand hill, and the whole divided into 
numerous irregular compartments, in evidence of different own- 



52 UNION COLLEGE. 

erships. As yet, neither shrub nor tree had been planted, walk 
traced, garden laid out, or edifice erected thereon. 

A tract of some 250 acres was secured, mainly on the 
responsibility of the president, and new buildings begun 
upon plans drawn by M. Joseph Jacques Ramee, a French 
engineer then eminent in this country, and for a time 
employed by the National government in planning forti- 
fications and public works. 

In 1890, in an old print-shop in Paris, a Union College 
graduate of the Class of '80 discovered M. Ramee's original 
sketch of the ground plan of the college buildings and 
garden. It bears the inscription " College cle V Union a 
Schenectady, JEtat de New Yorch, 1813," and is probably 
the original draft submitted by the architect to Dr. Nott. 
It was purchased and deposited in the College Library. 
This plan has been very closely followed in the laying 
out of the grounds and the erection of the successive col- 
lege buildings. It shows the ground plan of the main 
college buildings, north and south, the central circular 
building, not completed till 1876, and the projected semi- 
circular building in the rear, which has still more recently 
taken form in the Powers Memorial Building, finished in 
1884. The two buildings at the ends of this semicircle, 
however, are still to be built. Nor has the lake in the 
" college pasture," or the Catholic cross in the garden, 
shown on the Frenchman's plan, yet materialized into 
being. The work of construction was begun in 1812 and 
the two main buildings finished in 1820, although one of 
them was occupied as early as 1814. These buildings 
are four stories high, 200 feet by 40 feet each, and cost 
about $110,000. 

To meet this expense, application was again made to 
the Legislature in 1814. Dr. Nott was a power in Albany. 
His influence with the legislators and before committees 
was another instance of that remarkable force which im- 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 53 

pressed itself upon all lie met. Other colleges and institu- 
tions were before the Legislature of 1814 as applicants for 
aid, but, satisfied that their unaided efforts would prove 
ineffectual, they intrusted their cases to President Nott, 
who generously advocated their claims in the same breath 
with his own, and the benefits to Hamilton College, the 
College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the Asbury 
African Church of New York, were included in the same 
grant as those to Union. Columbia College had intro- 
duced a bill intended to grant to that institution the cele- 
brated Hosack Botanical Garden in New York. Convinced 
of the futility of their independent claim for aid, the Co- 
lumbia managers withdrew their special bill and besought 
Dr. Nott to take up their appeal. This he did so gener- 
ously and vigorously that the Columbia grant was at- 
tached as a "rider" to his own lottery bill, and went 
through with it. Thus, solely through the influence of 
the president of Union, Columbia received that magnifi- 
cent property which to-day forms its principal endow- 
ment. The botanical garden granted to Columbia com- 
prised twenty acres located between Fifth and Sixth 
Avenues, Forty-seventh and Fifty-first Streets, in New 
York City, then three and one half miles out of town, but 
now the center of the wealth and population of the me- 
tropolis. In the same act which gave to Columbia the 
title to the botanical garden, it was provided that within 
one year from the passage of the act at least one healthy, 
exotic flower, shrub, or plant of each kind it contained in 
duplicate should be sent, with the jar containing it, to 
Union College. There is no record, however, that Co- 
lumbia ever complied with this graceful suggestion for 
the recognition of Union's services in her behalf. 

So marked was the influence of Dr. Nott in favor of the 
combination bill that at the close of the act in the offi- 
cial session laws of 1814 was printed this unprecedented 
" Note. — No bill before the Legislature excited greater in- 



5-1 UNION COLLEGE. 

terest and attention than this act. Much credit is due to 
the unwearied exertions of the able and eloquent president 
of Union College in promoting its passage." 

This lottery bill granted to Union College $200,000, to 
Hamilton College $40,000, to the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons $30,000, and to the Asbury African Church 
in New York $4,000, with interest for six years. But the 
managers of these lotteries appointed by the act were so 
remiss in selling the tickets that up to 1822 not a dollar 
of the principal had been paid to any of the beneficiaries. 
Again, therefore, the good Doctor betook himself to 
Albany, and on April 5, 1822, an act was passed " To 
limit the continuance of lotteries." It recited the delay 
in the conduct of the concern, and authorized the institu- 
tions themselves to take the management of the lotteries, 
direct the drawings, receive the avails, and pay the prizes. 
The other beneficiary institutions, having witnessed the 
failure of the lotteries during the preceding eight years, 
took alarm at the responsibility this act devolved upon 
them, and refused to participate in the active management. 
Not so the president of Union. With the consent of his 
Board of Trustees, the president bought out, for a satis- 
factory consideration, the interest of all the other institu- 
tions, for which he borrowed on his own responsibility 
$75,000, and assumed in his own person the entire man- 
agement of the affair. It was this bold act, and the trans- 
actions which followed it, which years later brought 
Union College into the courts, and into legislative inves- 
tigations, and which caused the motives and acts of the 
president to be sharply arraigned. 

From this consolidated lottery Union College received 
in all a sum of $277,000. Dr. Nott had sub-let to Yates 
& Mclntyre, a firm of brokers, the management of the lot- 
teries, reserving to himself a percentage of the profits 
from such management, which were afterward found to 
amount to $71,691.29. In order to save the firm of Yates 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 55 

& Mclntyre from bankruptcy and from imperiling the 
college interest in the proceeds of the lottery, Dr. Nott 
had advanced the firm large sums of money by pledging 
his and his wife's property, and had taken as security a 
bond for $150,000. It was the ownership of these two 
sums which years later gave rise to the charges against 
the president. His enemies claimed that these profits 
and the bond belonged to the college, and not to the Doc- 
tor personally. This claim was, however, never made by 
the college, but by newspapers and by outsiders. The 
charges were never credited by the friends of Dr. Nott, or 
by the college trustees. And the president had frequently 
announced his intention ultimately to appropriate every 
dollar that he derived as profits from the lottery transac- 
tion to the benefit of Union College, a promise which was 
eventually more than fulfilled. 

In 1849 a resolution was introduced in the Assembly 
requiring a report as to the financial condition of Union 
College. This was incited by the reports of newspapers 
hostile to Dr. Nott, charging that he had appropriated to 
his own use $560,000 of the funds of the college. A Com- 
mittee of the Assembly made an examination of the 
books and reported that the "financial condition of the 
college was unsound and improper." This led, of course, 
to a thorough investigation, in which Hon. John C. Spen- 
cer, an old pupil of Dr. JSTott, volunteered his services in 
behalf of his old instructor, and his masterly argument 
before the Committee was so convincing as to complete 
the vindication of his venerable instructor of other years 
and to remove the odium from an honored name. Dr. 
Nott completed the discomfiture of his enemies by an- 
ticipating the report of the legislative committee and by 
executing a deed of trust which bestowed upon the col- 
lege a property then estimated at over $600,000. Cer- 
tainly the college owes its high position among American 
colleges not only to the scholarship and the reputation of 



56 UNION COLLEGE. 

Eliphalet Nott, but also to his financial skill and muni- 
ficence it owes its largest endowment. 

The tracing to tbeir culmination of tbe lotteries and 
the difficulties engendered by them has caused a digres- 
sion from the history of the college itself and its progress 
through these years. Notwithstanding the number and 
the intricacy of the outside matters which claimed his at- 
tention, Dr. Nott's first interests were in " his children," 
as his pupils were affectionately styled. From the time 
of the erection of the new college buildings on the hill 
the number of students steadily increased until in 1820 
the number in all the classes exceeded 300, and the grad- 
uating class alone contained sixty-five. In this class were 
several men who attained distinguished eminence, among 
whom were William H. Seward, Laurens P. Hickok, who 
long stood at the head of American metaphysicians ; Will- 
iam Kent, one of New York's ablest jurists ; Tayler Lewis, 
the greatest linguist and classical scholar of his age, and 
Rev. Dr. Horatio Foote. In 18*25 Union had passed Har- 
vard and Yale in the number of its students, and with the 
exception of a few intervening years held for a quarter 
of a century the honor of being the largest college in the 
United States. The fame of Dr. Nott as an educator, the 
high reputation of the college, the excellence of its sys- 
tem and management, drew students from all parts of 
the country to Schenectady, and large numbers came 
from the lower classes of other institutions to obtain the 
benefit of President Nott's senior lectures, and receive 
from his hand their diplomas. The president drew 
around him and kept as his coadjutors a remarkable 
body of faithful, energetic, and learned professors, and 
throughout his unprecedented administration of sixty- 
two years the college enjoyed the highest degree of 
prosperity. 

In 1845 was celebrated with great enthusiasm the semi- 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 



57 



centennial anniversary of the founding of the college, 
for which preparations had been made for two years 



#h 


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(r 






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■ ***"i 






A 


wjjf 


y^jrm 






. 





REV. LAURENS PERSEUS HICKOK, D. D., IX. D. 



previous. The occasion was one of general rejoicing 
and congratulation. Addresses were made by Rev. Dr. 
Joseph Sweetman, one of the first graduates, and by 
Dr. Alonzo Potter, afterward vice-president of the col- 
lege. Over 500 of the alumni attended the anniversary. 
Another interesting anniversary was held nine years 
later, on the completion of the half -century of Dr. Nott's 
administration, July 25, 1854. The central point of in- 
terest on this occasion was the address of the venerable 
president, which was a compact review of the labors, 
trials, and successes of the fifty years which had closed. 
The other principal orators were Hon. William W. Camp- 
bell, of Cherry Valley, and President Francis Wayland, 
of Brown University, a former pupil of Dr. Nott. The 



58 



UNION COLLEGE. 



proceedings upon both these anniversary occasions were 
preserved in the form of printed memorial pamphlets. 

Before this time, however, the president had begun to 
feel the infirmities of advancing years, and in 1852 Dr. 
Laurens P. Hickok was elected vice-president. Upon him 
gradually devolved the cares of administration, although 
the presidency was not actually conferred upon him until 
the death of Dr. Nott, in 1866. 

The prosperity of the college continued undiminished 
until the Civil War burst like a storm-cloud over the 
country. The classes of 1860 and 1861 were among the 
largest in the history of the college. Through nearly a 
quarter of a century the South had sent more students 
to Union College than to any other, and the class rolls 
of those years show representatives from nearly every 




REV. CHARLES AUGUSTUS AIKEN, D. D., LL. D. 



Southern State. But as the controversy over the ques- 
tion of slavery became more bitter, the South gradually 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 



59 



withdrew its young men from Northern institutions, and 
when the first shell broke over Sumter the last band of 
Southern students then remaining in Union left to join 




REV. ELIPHALET NOTT POTTER, D. D., LL. U 



the ranks of the Confederacy. Nor was this the only 
cause of depletion. Scores of Northern students forsook 
their books to take up the musket. The college campus 
became a drill-ground. The brilliant young professor of 
modern languages, Professor Elias Peissner, recruited a 
company on College Hill and led them in person to the 
front, himself falling on the bloody field of Chancellors- 
ville, with a colonel's stars on his shoulders. Over three 
hundred Union men became Union soldiers in that great 
struggle for the vindication of the National honor. 

The war was the beginning of a period of depression 
which lasted for many years. Dr. Nott died in 1866, at 
the ripe age of ninety-three years, and was succeeded by 
Dr. Hickok. The latter resigned in 1868, and was sue- 



60 



UNION COLLEGE. 



ceeded by Rev. Dr. Charles A. Aiken, of Princeton, who 
served for only two years. After a brief interregnum, 
Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott Potter, a son of Bishop Alonzo 
Potter and a grandson of President Nott, was elected to 
the presidency. Under his administration new endow- 
ments were received, new buildings erected, and the num- 
ber of students increased. Misunderstandings, however, 
arose between the president and the faculty and trustees, 
and he retired in 1884 to accept the presidency of Hobart 
College. On his retirement, Hon. Judson S. Landon 
became president ad interim until the election, in May, 
1888, of Harrison E. Webster, LL. D. 




HARRISON E. WEBSTER, LL. D. 



President Webster served the college till January, 1894, 
when, by reason of ill health, he presented his resignation, 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 



61 



which was accepted with many expressions of regret and 
of appreciation for his valuable services to his alma mater. 




REV. ANDREW V. V. RAYMOND, D. D.,LL. D. 

Early in 1894 the trustees elected as the successor of 
President Webster Rev. Dr. Andrew V. V. Raymond, a 
graduate of the Class of 1875, and at that time pastor of 



62 UNION COLLEGE. 

the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Albany. There are 
many who link this coincidence with the youth, the en- 
thusiasm, the oratorical ability, and the remarkable per- 
sonal influence of Dr. Raymond, and draw a parallel be- 
tween President Nott and President Raymond. Not since 
the war has the old college experienced such a period of 
prosperity and of hopeful enthusiasm as since the inau- 
guration of President Raymond, which occurred in June, 
1894. The classes have doubled in numbers, the teaching 
force largely increased, new endowments have been se- 
cured, and the standard of scholarship constantly elevated. 
New interest and enthusiasm have been inspired among 
the alumni, and complete harmony exists in the college 
councils. 

Educational Influence and Progress. 

There is perhaps no place more fitting than this for a 
brief mention of the services of the instructors who have 
made Union famous, and of her influence in the develop- 
ment of higher education in America. It is true that 
during the administration of Dr. Nott he alone shaped the 
policy of the college, originated plans for its government, 
suggested and carried into effect changes when needed, 
and controlled its affairs as absolutely as any monarch 
who ever ruled an empire. Yet his rule was gentle, if 
autocratic. The utmost harmony prevailed in the coun- 
cils of the faculty, and the mention of their names is 
sufficient to account for the value and popularity of the 
Union College course during his long administration. 
At the head of the Greek department Union has had 
such instructors as Andrew Yates, Henry Davis, Robert 
Proudfit, Tayler Lewis, and Henry Whitehorne. In Latin, 
Thomas C. Reed, John Newman, Benjamin Stanton, and 
Robert Lowell. In Mathematics, John Taylor, Benjamin 
Allen, Francis Wayland, Isaac W. Jackson, and Isaiah B. 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 



63 



Price. In Chemistry, Joel B. Nott, Charles A. Joy, Ben- 
jamin F. Joslin, Charles F. Chandler, and Maurice Per- 
kins. In Natural Philosophy, Thomas Macauley, Alonzo 




PROF. TAYLER LEWIS, D. D., LL. D. 



Potter, and John Foster. In French and German, Pierre 
Reynaud, Louis Tellkampf, Pierre A. Proal, Elias Peiss- 
ner, William Wells, and Wendell Lamoroux. In Natural 
History, Jonathan Pearson and Harrison E. Webster. In 
Rhetoric, Logic, and Belles-Lettres, Thomas C. Brown well, 
Alonzo Potter, Laurens P. Hickok, Nathaniel G. Clarke, 
Ransom B. Welsh, and George Alexander. In Oriental 
Literature, John Austin Yates and Tayler Lewis. In Civil 
Engineering, Frederick R. Hassler, William M. Gillespie, 
Cady Staley, and Winfield S. Chaplin. 

Union College was the first to break away from the 
strict and beaten classical course, and to place scientific 
instruction on a plane of equal dignity. At Union also 
originated the so-called optional system, which it has 
always exercised to a limited degree, but never to the 



64 



UNION COLLEGE. 



extent of license which it afterward attained in other col- 
leges. As far back as 1797, we have seen, in the report 
of the Regents quoted in the foregoing pages, the germ 
of this now popular system. " A provision is also made 
for substituting the knowledge of the French language 
instead of the Greek, in certain cases, if the funds should 
hereafter admit of instituting a French professorship." 
This professorship, with a single exception, the first in 
the United States, was established in 1806. 

The essential features of the scientific course, as origi- 
nated by Dr. Nott, and so ably advocated by President 
Wayland and others of his pupils, was the substitution of 
the modern languages and an increased amount of mathe- 
matical and physical science, in place of the Greek and 




PROF. ISAAC W. JACKSOK. 



Latin languages. It also permitted, within certain well- 
defined limits, the election of certain studies by the stu- 
dents. 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 65 

The first course of civil engineering in any American 
college was established at Union in 1845, by Professor 
William M. Gillespie, and has ever since been successfully 
continued. While the college still maintains the classical 
course in all its thoroughness, the scientific instruction 
has recently been still further developed by the estab- 
lishment of courses in sanitary and electrical engineering. 
The departments of English and of modern languages 
have also been greatly strengthened, and the course of 
instruction at Union to-day compares favorably with that 
of the best New England and New York colleges. 

Union has been called the mother of secret societies. 
Instead of antagonizing and repressing the fraternities, 
the authorities of Union have ever encouraged and fos- 
tered them. The three oldest college fraternities in the 
United States, except the venerable Phi Beta Kappa, which 
had then already ceased to be a secret society, were or- 
ganized at Union in 1825 and 1827. These were Kappa 
Alpha, Sigma Phi, and Delta Phi. Later on, in 1832 and 
1847, Psi Upsilon, Chi Psi, and Theta Delta Chi established 
their first chapters at Union. The authorities have al- 
ways maintained that, properly conducted, the fraternities 
were of actual benefit rather than a hindrance to college 
discipline. The fraternities now flourishing are, in the 
order of their establishment, Kappa Alpha, Sigma Phi, 
Delta Phi, Psi Upsilon, Delta Upsilon, Alpha Delta Phi, 
Beta Theta Pi, Phi Delta Theta, and Chi Psi, reestablished 
in 1892. The Union Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, estab- 
lished in 1817, is the Alpha, or parent, chapter for the 
State of New York. Another honorary fraternity, Sigma 
Xi, has recently been established, to which only the 
honor men of the scientific and engineering courses are 
eligible, Phi Beta Kappa being confined to the classical 
students. 

Two literary societies, the Philomathean and the Adel- 
phic, each nearly a century old, divide the allegiance of 
5 



66 UNION COLLEGE. 

the students. Each has a fine hall and well-selected libra- 
ries of from three thousand to five thousand volumes. 

One of the earliest of all college publications was the 
" Floriad," published by the literary societies of Union in 
1809. A few numbers of this paper are in the Boston City 
Library. The various student publications which have 
followed it, and survived for a longer or shorter period, 
were the "Students' Album" (1827), "The Parthenon" 
and "Academicians' Magazine" (1832), "The Union Col- 
lege Magazine " (1860-1875), " The Unionian " (1862), "The 
Spectator" (1873), and the " Concordiensis" (1877). The 
last mentioned is now the principal college publication, 
and has recently been made a bi-monthly. " The Garnet," 
so named from the college color, is an annual illustrated 
publication, conducted by the secret societies. The " Par- 
thenon" has been recently revived in magazine form. 

The songs of Union form a handsome volume, " Car- 
mina Concordia," first collected by Truman Weed, of the 
Class of '75, a new edition of which, embodying the recent 
songs, has just been issued by two members of the Class 
of 1896. John Howard Payne was one of Union's ear- 
liest song-writers, and gifted writers have from year to 
year added to the collection. A few of these songs are 
perennial in their fragrance, and are always sung on 
festive occasions. This is especially true of the " Song 
to Old Union," composed by Fitzhugh Ludlow, of the 
Class of 1856. It is always sung on commencement 
day, at the close of the graduating exercises. The hearty 
good-will and feeling with which returning sons join in 
the grand chorus : 

Then here 's to thee, the brave and free, 

Old Union smiling o'er us, 
And for many a day, as thy walls grow gray, 

May they ring with thy children's chorus, 

show that the gifted poet did not attune his lyre in vain. 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 67 

The government of Union College has always been pa- 
ternal, but characterized by the greatest freedom consis- 
tent with good results. The ponderous code of rules and 
restrictions of the old days has long since gone out of 
print, and the only rule now promulgated at Union Col- 
lege is, in the language of ex-President Webster, that 
"Every student should do his work and conduct himself 
like a gentleman." On these two hang all the law and 
the prophets. 

Of the nine presidents of Union, four, Presidents Hickok, 
Potter, Webster, and Raymond, have been graduates of 
Union. Presidents Maxcy and Nott bore the diplomas of 
Brown University, Presidents Smith and Edwards were 
Princeton men, and President Aiken was a graduate of 
Dartmouth. The strict adherence of the college to the 
principle of Christian union which shaped the plans of 
its founders is apparent in the varying religious tenets of 
its several presidents. Presidents Smith, Edwards, Nott, 
Webster, and Raymond were Presbyterians; Dr. Maxcy 
a Baptist ; Dr. Hickok a Congregationalist ; and Dr. Potter 
an Episcopalian. 

Buildings and G-eounds. 

The oldest buildings on the college grounds are the 
North and South College buildings, uniform in construc- 
tion, and 800 feet apart. The ends of each building con- 
tain residences for professors, and the central part, having 
three distinct entrances and sections, provides 48 rooms 
in each college. Backward from each of these buildings 
run the two " colonnades," each 250 feet long. These con- 
tain recitation rooms, lecture rooms, and apparatus. The 
colonnades terminate each in a larger, square building, the 
North building being devoted to the chemical and philo- 
sophical laboratories and lecture rooms, and the South to 
chapel, Registrar's office, and natural history museum. 



68 



UNION COLLEGE. 



The museum of natural history is one of the finest in this 
country, being exceeded, in the number and variety of its 
specimens, only by that of Harvard University and the 
Smithsonian Institution at Washington. It comprises (1) 
the extensive collections, chiefly of marine animals, made 
by President Webster during his occupancy of the chair 
of natural history, (2) the celebrated Wheatley collection 
of shells and minerals, donated by E. C. Delavan, (3) speci- 




ENTEANCE TO COLLEGE GROUNDS. 



mens received from the National and State governments, 
and (4) contributions from friends and patrons of the 
college. 

The philosophical museum is also rich in apparatus, 
especially in instruments illustrating electricity, magnet- 
ism, light, heat, acoustics, pneumatics, statics and dyna- 
mics, hydrostatics and hydraulics, and measurements. 

The engineering department possesses the celebrated 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 



69 



Olivier collection of models, consisting of about fifty 
models, representing the most important and compli- 
cated ruled surfaces of descriptive geometry, particularly 
warped or twisted surfaces. Their directrices are rep- 
resented by brass bars, straight or curved, to which 
are attached silk threads representing the elements or 
successive positions of the generatrices of the surfaces. 




THE TERRACE. 



Each of these threads has a weight suspended by it so as 
always to make it a straight line. These weights are 
contained in boxes sustaining the directrices and their 
standards. The bars are movable in various directions, 
carrying with them the threads still stretched straight 
by the weights in every position they may take ; so that 
the forms and natures of the surfaces which they consti- 
tute are continually changing, while they always remain 



70 UNION COLLEGE. 

"ruled surfaces." Iu this way a plane is transformed 
into a paraboloid, a cylinder into a hyperboloid, etc. 
These models were invented by the lamented Theodore 
Olivier, while professor of descriptive geometry at the 
Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in Paris. One set of 
them is now deposited there and a second is in the con- 
servatory at Madrid. Copies of some of them are to be 
found in most of the polytechnic schools of Germany. 
The Union College set is the original collection of the in- 
ventor, having been made in part by his own hands, and 
after his death, in 1853, retained by the widow till bought 
from her by Professor Gillespie, in 1855. It is more com- 
plete than that in the Paris Conservatoire. It may be 
worth noticing that the silvered plates on the boxes, 
reading " Invente par Theodore Olivier,' 1 '' etc., were added 
by Madame Olivier after the purchase, at her own ex- 
pense, as a tribute to the memory of her husband; her 
own words being, " Je tenais a ce, que chaque instrument 
portdt le nom du savant dont la reputation passera a la 
posterite? 

Memorial Hall, long a familiar object in the pictures, 
and originally designed for a chapel, was delayed for var- 
ious causes, so that the foundation was not laid till 1858. 
The war and its attendant depression interrupted the 
work, which was not resumed till 1874, and the present 
domed structure was evolved in 1876. This building, 
situated midway between and in the rear of the two main 
buildings, is nearly circular, 84 feet in diameter, the dome 
rising 120 feet from the floor. It has never been of any 
particular use to the college, but is employed for the 
banquet hall at commencement time, and is adorned by 
paintings, statues, and works of art. 

A president's house was built in 1873, and in 1874 a 
gymnasium, which, when finished, was one of the largest 
and best equipped in the country. All these buildings, 
except Memorial Hall, are of brick, rough cast with stucco 



72 UNION COLLEGE. 

or cement, producing the " gray old walls " celebrated in 
college song. 

Some distance behind the circular building has recently 
been erected a handsome structure known as the Powers 
Memorial Building, finished in 1885. This consists of a 
chapel-like central building, with wings extending from 
it on either side in the form of a half -circle. The central 
building forms a splendid receptacle for the 40,000 vol- 
umes which constitute the college library, and the wings 
contain the president's office and eight spacious and well- 
equipped recitation rooms. 

The development of fraternity life is gradually intro- 
ducing a more modern architecture on the college grounds. 
The Psi Upsilon fraternity recently secured the grant of 
a lot on the college grounds, to the rear of South College, 
and has erected on it a fine chapter-house costing $30,- 
000. The Alpha Delta Phi Society has erected a hand- 
some and commodious chapter home, now approaching 
completion, near the Psi Upsilon chapter house, on a path 
which is known as the "Grecian Bend." The Sigma Phi 
Chapter has recently been enriched by a bequest of 
$40,000, and a building for this venerable fraternity is 
probable in the near future. Similar plans are contem- 
plated by Delta Upsilon, Chi Psi, Beta Theta Pi, and 
other of the Greek-letter societies. 

The original grounds acquired for college uses in Sche- 
nectady have been somewhat reduced by street improve- 
ments and the sale of lots, but are still amply sufficient, 
embracing about 125 acres, including the campus, gardens, 
and grounds properly belonging to the college and essen- 
tial for its use, besides some one hundred acres of wood- 
lands and fields adjoining. 

During the residence of Professor Thomas Macauley, 
more than fifty years ago, a beginning was made in the 
improvement of a garden north of North College. The 
work was, however, scarcely more than a beginning until 



HISTOEY OP THE COLLEGE. 73 

Professor Isaac W. Jackson became a resident of the ad- 
joining dwelling in 1831, when a series of improvements 
were begnn, which, aided by a small annual grant from 
the trustees, have gradually transformed a wild ravine 
and tangled woodland into a charming ramble and pleas- 
ant retreat. The grounds embrace some twelve acres, and 
combine many attractions of sylvan solitude and floral 
beauty. " Captain Jack," as the professor was affection- 
ately styled by his pupils, devoted the last years of his 
life almost entirely to the beautifying of this garden, and 
here, under the spi^eading elm which was his favorite 
resort, were held his funeral ceremonies in 1877. 

Besides the real estate in Schenectady, the college owns 
a few lots in the City of New York and a large tract 
comprising over 1100 city lots in Long Island City. This 
tract was received under the deed of Dr. Nott, and is of 
great value, already yielding the college a considerable 
annual income. The constant growth of Long Island 
City, its probable connection with New York City in the 
near future by tunnel or bridges, and its inevitable con- 
solidation with the metropolis, unite to make the college 
real estate of immense prospective value. 

The trustees of the college are, by its charter as 
amended, the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary 
of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, and Attorney-General 
of the State, ex officio; fifteen chosen for life by the 
Board of Trustees and four elected, one each year for a 
term of four years by the alumni. The present trustees, 
exclusive of the ex-officlo members, are Silas B. Brownell, 
Rev. Dr. William Irvin, Hon. Judson S. Landon, Hon. 
Edward W. Paige, William H. H. Moore, Rev. Dr. Denis 
Wortman, Hon. John H. Starin, Clark Brooks, John A. 
De Remer, Rev. Dr. George Alexander, Robert C. Alex- 
ander, Hon. Warner Miller, N. V. V. Franchot, Col. Charles 
E. Sprague, Howard Thornton, Hon. Wallace T. Foote, 
and Rev. David Sprague. 



74 UNION COLLEGE. 

The faculty, as now constituted, is made up as follows : 
A. V. V. Raymond, D. D., LL. D., President ; John Foster, 
LL. D., Nott Professor (Emeritus) of Natural History ; 
Henry Whitehorne, LL. D., Nott Professor of the Greek 
Language and Literature ; William Wells, LL. D., Pro- 
fessor of Modern Languages and Literature and Lecturer 
on Current History ; Maurice Perkins, A. M., M. D., Pro- 
fessor of Analytical Chemistry; Sidney G. Ash in ore, A. M., 
L. H. D., Professor of the Latin Language and Literature ; 
James R. Truax, A. M., Ph. D., Professor of the English 
Language and Literature; Thomas W. Wright, A. M., 
Ph. D., Professor of Applied Mathematics and Physics; 
Frank S. Hoffman, A. M., Professor of Mental and Moral 
Philosophy; Benjamin H. Ripton, A. M., Ph. D., Professor 
of History and Sociology, and Dean of the Faculty ; Olin 
H. Landreth, A. M., C. E., Professor of Civil Engineer- 
ing ; James L. Patterson, Sc. D., Professor of Mathemat- 
ics; Samuel B. Howe, Ph. D., Adjunct Nott Professor, 
Principal of Union School; Albert H. Pepper, A. M., 
Assistant Professor of Modern Languages ; James H. 
Stoller, A.M., Professor of Biology; Edward Everett Hale, 
Jr., Ph. D., Professor of Rhetoric and Logic ; Edwin H. 
Winans, A. M., Assistant Professor of Mathematics; 
Homer P. Cummings, Instructor in Surveying ; Wendell 
Lamoroux, A. M., Librarian and Lecturer ; C. P. Linhart, 
M. D., Instructor in Physiology and Physical Education ; 
George V. Edwards, A. M., Instructor in Latin and San- 
skrit ; Howard Opdyke, A. B., Instructor in Mathematics 
and Physics ; Elton D. Walker, B. S., Instructor in Engi- 
neering; John I. Bennett, A. M., Instructor in Greek; 
besides a corps of thirty-six lecturers. 

The general catalogues of Union College contain a list 
of names of which both the college and the country may 
well be proud. In the total number of its graduates it 
stands at least fourth, and perhaps third, among American 
colleges. The number of its alumni is nearly double that 



HISTOEY OF THE COLLEGE. 75 

of any other college in New York State. Its graduates 
have become prominent in every profession and walk in 
life. Among the number have been a President of the 
United States, two Secretaries of State, two Justices of 
the United States Supreme Court, ten Senators, two 
Speakers, and 130 members of the House of Representa- 
tives. Thirty-six college presidents have had their edu- 
cational ideas molded at Union and have transplanted 
them to other institutions. One-fifth of the whole number 
of judges elected to the bench of the Court of Appeals 
and of the Supreme Court in New York State have been 
Union College graduates. 

The general alumni association was organized and in- 
corporated in 1857, and local associations have been formed 
in New York City, Albany, Chicago, Rochester, St. Paul, 
Boston, San Francisco, and Washington. The New York 
association has over 500 members. 

Union Univeesity. 

Union University embraces the following institutions : 

Union College, 
Albany Medical College, 
Albany Law School, 
Dudley Observatory, 
Albany College of Pharmacy. 

Union College acquired by its original charter full Uni- 
versity powers, but the creation of graduate institutions 
at Schenectady was not found practicable. Schools of Law 
and Medicine, and also an Astronomical Observatory, had 
existed at Albany, only a few miles distant, for many 
years previous to 1873. The arrangement naturally sug- 
gested by these circumstances was, that the professional 
schools and the observatory at Albany should be united 
with Union College under the charter and Board of Trus- 



76 UNION COLLEGE. 

tees of the latter. This was accordingly effected by the 
incorporation of Union University in 1873. The Albany 
College of Pharmacy was created by the Board of Regents 
June 21, 1881, and incorporated as a department of the 
University August 21, of the same year. 

The President of Union College and permanent Chan- 
cellor of Union University has the oversight of the Uni- 
versity, each of the institutions having its resident Dean. 
The University Board of Governors is composed of certain 
of the permanent trustees of Union College, and of repre- 
sentatives of each of the other institutions embraced in 
Union University. 



BACCALAUKEATE DAY. 



The Services of this day included a Discourse upon an assigned topic in 
the morning, a Conference on Religion and Education in the afternoon, and 
the Baccalaureate Sermon in the evening. 



DISCOURSE 

BY REV. GEORGE ALEXANDER, D. D. 

Class of 1866. 

Zty ftriigiontf ^Influence of (Union College. 

ONE hundred years ago Europe was still rocking with 
the throes of the French Revolution. America had 
just entered upon the hazardous experiment of popular 
government. The administration of Washington was 
drawing to a close amid scenes of turbulence that boded 
ill for the Republic. The State of New York was for the 
most part a wilderness. For nearly a century and a half 
the Dutch colonists and their descendants had held this 
smiling valley, but so narrow was their domain that the 
ax of the hardy pioneer was ringing not twenty miles 
away. 

But a new spirit was abroad in the land. Men were 
rejoicing in the sense of emancipation, and beginning to 
feel the years before them. In the natural gateway be- 
tween the Catskills and the Adirondacks fresh streams 
of migration were meeting and mingling. Scotch and 
Scotch-Irish, obeying the instinct of their race, were 
pushing back among the hills which the Netherlander 
had not cared to explore. Men of New England, who 
had developed muscle and grit in wringing a livelihood 
from their sterile hills, had started on that tremendous 
march which in a century has reduced a continent from 



80 UNION COLLEGE. 

savagery to civilization. The modern era of enterprise 
and progress and vast material development had jnst 
begun. 

If we could reproduce the moral and religious atmo- 
sphere of that period we should find a contrast not less 
vivid between the last decade of the eighteenth century 
and the last decade of the nineteenth. The War of Inde- 
pendence, and the political ferment that followed it, had 
been anything but favorable to those faculties of the soul 
which look Grodward. The Puritan revival had spent 
its energy, and the undisciplined spirit of liberty was 
in active hostility to the stern and somber theology of 
New England. The democracy of America had been 
brought into close and vital relation with that continental 
democracy whose ultimate object of assault was the 
Christian faith. Skepticism had loosened the bonds of 
moral obligation. The Churches were enfeebled and in 
many cases disorganized. The Christianity of America 
was on the defensive, and had little energy for conquest. 
American institutions were about to be subjected to a 
new and searching test. Could the tide of migration and 
immigration be followed and dominated by the wholesome 
and disciplinary influences of learning and religion 1 

Such were the conditions under which Union College 
had its birth. It sprang from the soil; it was not the 
product of individual beneficence or ecclesiastical zeal or 
legislative initiative, but of popular demand. No other 
American college has been created in response to a peti- 
tion signed by a thousand men of the vicinage. It is one 
of the factors which has shaped the history of a century 
unparalleled for the brilliancy and beneficence of its 
achievements. 

The impulse to which our college owes its origin was 
national and secular rather than religious, but religious 
men are coming to recognize the fact that nothing is 
more sacred than those secular movements which bear 



DISCOUKSE. 81 

witness to the reality of a Divine Spirit which is like 
the wind that bloweth where it listeth — to the power 
and ceaseless activity of a God immanent in His universe. 

The task assigned me is to trace in rude outline the 
contributions of Union College to the forces which make 
for righteousness and the upbuilding of the kingdom of 
God. Let us seek those contributions in the realm of 
Christian thought and education, in the field of church 
organization and leadership, in the annals of world-wide 
evangelism, and among the forces that tend toward the 
reunion of Christendom. 

I. The philosophy of the eighteenth century had much 
to do with its spiritual decadence. Hobbes and Hume, 
Rousseau and Voltaire, had formulated the ideas which 
occupied the public mind to the prejudice of both con- 
science and faith. Atheism had poisoned the fountains 
of learning. The educated mind of America has never 
been so pronouncedly unchristian as it was at the close 
of the last century. Among the students of Yale College 
there was about this time but a single professor of re- 
ligion. Similar conditions prevailed at Williams and 
Bowdoin. 

If the spirit of the nineteenth century has been, in 
comparison, reverent and believing, it is because far- 
seeing and godly educators, among whom Dr. Dwight 
and Dr. Nott stand preeminent, bent their best energies 
to the task of impressing a Christian stamp upon our in- 
stitutions of higher learning. 

In the development of the American college as a center 
of Christian light and power the sons of our alma mater 
have borne no inconspicuous part. Her great thinkers 
and teachers have been profoundly religious, men of lofty 
character and invincible faith. From the roll of those 
who have served on her faculty we might call the names 
of Thomas C. Brownell, Francis Wayland, Laurens P. 
Hickok, each of which stands for a measureless force in 
6 



82 UNION COLLEGE. 

the education of the American people. By their publica- 
tions, and still more by direct contact of mind with mind, 
they disseminated the principles of a sound and reverent 
philosophy. Their teachings were saturated with those 
ideas which lie at the basis of the Christian faith, and im- 
pose upon the spirit of man the most solemn obligations 
and sanctions. 

In this sanctuary, where he worshiped, it is especially 
fitting that reference should be made to the influence of 
that serene scholar who united the crystalline thinking 
of a Platonist with the spiritual intuitions of the Hebrew 
seer. No Biblical scholar of his time foresaw more dis- 
tinctly or faced more fearlessly the peril to which the 
progress of physical science and scientific criticism would 
subject the foundations of revealed religion. We cannot 
reckon the number of those whom Tayler Lewis strength- 
ened to meet it. No one who received the impress of his 
catholic and cosmopolitan spirit could ever fail in rever- 
ence for the sacred oracles or share the panic of timorous 
half-believers who would withhold the Scriptures from 
the sharpest scrutiny. 

II. Union College has, however, produced men of the 
arena rather than men of the cloister. Scholars some- 
times become conspicuous by reason of their aloofness ; 
they become influential by merging their life in the 
stream of common humanity and giving it direction. To 
shape institutions of religion and learning is to live and 
work forever. 

The citizens of Albany and Tryon counties who peti- 
tioned for the founding of a college in the town of 
Schenectady to supply "men of learning to fill the sev- 
eral offices of Church and State " began to realize their 
ideal when Eliphalet Nott was called to the presidency. 
He was a master of assemblies and a mover of men. His 
fame as a pulpit orator made him president of the college, 
and his fame as a college administrator made him a force 



DISCOUESE. 83 

in public affairs which we cannot now estimate. It is not 
surprising that young men drawn from the meager con- 
ditions of frontier life into contact with so commanding 
a personality caught the inspiration of his genius. To 
be with him was an education in the leadership of men. 
Under his tuition those who viewed life as a divine voca- 
tion became like the men of Issachar, "who had under- 
standing of the times to know what Israel ought to do." 
Responding to the needs of a rapidly expanding nation, 
they became founders and framers of beneficent institu- 
tions. Time would fail us to name the schools of higher 
learning which were founded or presided over in their 
earliest years by ministers of the gospel who received 
their training and impulse from Union College. Among 
them are Trinity, the University of New York, the Uni- 
versity of Michigan, Hanover, Knox, Hobart, Racine, 
Philadelphia Divinity School; and, in another category, 
Elmira Female College, Rutgers Female College, Vassar, 
and Smith. In shaping the most significant educational 
movement of the last half-century, the higher Christian 
education of American womanhood, it is no exaggeration 
to say that Union College men both pointed and led the 
way. 

It may be a more graphic presentation of the part that 
Union College has taken in the statesmanship of the 
kingdom of God if we make a cross-section of the stream 
of her alumni and note the posts of influential service 
which at a single point of time were occupied by her men 
of religion. Forty years ago to-day ministers of the 
gospel who were sons of old Union presided over such 
colleges as Bowdoin, Brown, Princeton, University of 
Michigan, Western University, Racine, and Hobart. A 
Union graduate was president of the House of Bishops 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church. In that body were 
a group of Union alumni, including Bishop Brownell, of 
Connecticut ; Bishop Doane, of New Jersey ; Bishop 



84 UNION COLLEGE. 

Alonzo Potter, of Pennsylvania ; Bishop Horatio Potter, 
of New York, and Bishop Upfold, of Indiana. It would 
be difficult to select from the entire roll of her clergy five 
men whose influence upon the fortunes of that historic 
Church has been more profound and permanent. 

At the same date, Dr. Ludlow and Dr. Proudfit were 
in the seminary at New Brunswick, shaping the theo- 
logical instruction of the Dutch Reformed Church. Dr. 
De Witt occupied the most conspicuous pulpit in that 
denomination as pastor of the Collegiate Church in New 
York City. Dr. Wisner, also a graduate of Union, was 
Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly. Half 
of the theological chairs of the Presbyterian Church were 
occupied by Union graduates. Dr. McMasters, the 
founder of Hanover, and subsequently the president of 
Miami University, was professor of theology in New Al- 
bany, now McCormick, Seminary. Dr. Robert C. Breck- 
enridge was dominating the thought of the Presbyterians 
of the South as professor of theology in the seminary at 
Danville. Dr. Huntington was occupying the same chair 
in Auburn Seminary, as successor to Dr. Hickok. Dr. 
Phillips, Dr. Wadsworth, and Dr. Gurley were filling the 
most conspicuous Presbyterian pulpits in New York, 
Philadelphia, and Washington, respectively. 

Such selections from a list which might be greatly ex- 
tended will afford some conception of the influence which 
this venerable institution was exercising upon the re- 
ligious thought and life of our country in the five preg- 
nant years which immediately preceded the nation's 
baptism of blood. It is not without significance that in 
the darkest hours of that tremendous struggle, when the 
mind and the heart of her great President were bowed 
with the weight of his responsibility, while a Union 
graduate was the leader of his Cabinet and a Union grad- 
uate the commander-in-chief of his armies, a Union 
graduate was also his spiritual counselor, and knelt with 



DISCOUKSE. 85 

him when his burdened soul cried out for God, for the 
living God. 

III. But we turn to another field of inquiry. The char- 
acteristic note of the nineteenth century is evangelism. 
The Church has recovered the spirit of conquest which 
glorified the Pentecostal era. Wide areas have been added 
to the domain of Christendom and ancient strongholds 
of paganism have been invaded. In this sublime warfare 
our college has furnished her full quota of heroes and 
martyrs. Her president for more than sixty years began 
his ministry as a missionary. Cherry Valley was a rude 
frontier settlement when, as teacher and schoolmaster, 
he kindled there the lamp of religion and learning. Men 
of God who lit their torches at his flame could not ignore 
the Macedonian cry from the regions beyond. By hun- 
dreds they followed the trail of the settler's wagon 
through the wilds of the Western Reserve and across 
the rich prairies of the Louisiana Purchase. It was 
through the perils and pains of such unremembered 
heralds of the cross that in those days of slow locomo- 
tion the isolated settlements were kept from lapsing into 
barbarism. They planted the school beside the church, 
and infused into the advancing tide of migration the 
saving salt of intelligence and virtue. Some of them 
turned their feet towards the vanishing tribes of red 
men ; and some of them went southward. A graduate 
of this college, following close upon the marching col- 
umns of '61, established at Old Point Comfort the first 
school for freedmen, and began the work which to-day 
is bringing eight million men of African descent into 
intelligent citizenship. 

On such an occasion as this we may perhaps consider 
ourselves released from the obligation to confine our 
praises to dead heroes. As a type of many others, let 
me trace the career of one who here received his diploma 
forty years ago, and who has become the most widely 
6* 



86 UNION COLLEGE. 

known missionary on the continent — tireless, dauntless, 
ubiquitous. First a missionary to the aborigines of the 
Indian Territory, then a missionary in the sparse settle- 
ments of Minnesota, then for a dozen years marshaling 
the Church's advance along the slopes of the Rockies, in 
Colorado, in Montana, and Wyoming and Utah ; penetrat- 
ing the mining camps, where godlessness and anarchy 
reigned supreme, appealing to the consciences of desper- 
ate men and reminding them of home and mother. Still 
later we find him the apostle of Alaska, sailing away into 
wintry seas to brave the forces of lawlessness in their 
farthest stronghold and to save a simple race from ex- 
tinction. He roused the Church to a sense of her respon- 
sibility, and shamed the general government into making 
provision for the defense of its helpless wards. Finally, 
true to the spirit of his alma mater, he invited a union of 
Churches for the redemption of that remote principality, 
and said of the Catholic priest whom he found engaged 
in the same holy service, " My heart went out to him as 
to a brother." For the Church of his own allegiance, 
Sheldon Jackson accepted the region most inhospitable, 
and planted the standard of the cross where the northern- 
most point of the Republic looks out on the bleak and 
lonely prospects of the Arctic seas. 

But our theme requires us to take a wider range. A 
few years ago I received a letter from a graduate of this 
college who was doing yeoman service on the Pacific 
slope, offering himself as a foreign missionary, and say- 
ing: "I feel that I ought to be on the skirmish line." 
With scores of our alumni he is now enduring hardness 
as a good soldier " on the skirmish line." Some, like 
those who joined the educational forces of the new 
Japan, have enjoyed the speedy fruition of their labors 
in seeing Christian forbearance and self-restraint and 
humanity displacing the barbaric code which lately op- 
pressed that now rejuvenated and emancipated nation. 



DISCOUKSE. 87 

Some, like Lansing beside the Pyramids and Crawford 
in Damascus, have been slowly rearing on the ruins of 
hoary civilizations the more enduring fabric of the king- 
dom of God. Others have simply given the last, full 
measure of a soldier's devotion and laid down their lives, 
that over their prostrate forms later comrades might 
press on to victory. Long and shining is the martyr 
roll. . We might speak of Hume, whose grave is deep 
among the coral and pearls of the Indian Ocean and 
whose children are passing on through Southern India 
the torch which he kindled ; of McQueen, breathing out 
his life on the deadly shores of Africa and leaving as his 
last message to the native chief, " I am going home " ; of 
Preston and Butler in China; of Nevins also, glorious 
missionary and prince among men ; of Whiting, who fol- 
lowed in the track of the pestilence, bearing succor to 
the famishing, until the plague claimed him as its victim, 
and over whose lonely grave the untaught children of 
the East paid divine honors. Such are the unwritten 
epics of this sublime crusade. It is something to have 
touched elbows in the march of life with comrades like 
these. Amid our centennial rejoicings we do well to 
bring our own poor lives under the spell of their ex- 
ample, and to borrow stimulus for future service from 
the pathos and chivalry of their story ; to be reminded 
by them of that teaching of our Lord and Master, which 
we are too ready to forget: "He who saveth his life 
shall lose it ; but he who loseth his life for My sake shall 
save it." 



We build, like corals, grave on grave, 
To pave a path that 's sunward. 
We are beaten back in many a strife, 
But newer strength we borrow, 
And where the vanguard halts to-day 
The rear will rest to-morrow. 



88 UNION COLLEGE. 

" IV. But we cannot leave the consideration of this 
theme without turning for a moment to that particular 
in which the position and influence of Union College are 
unique. 

If the first petition for a seat of learning in this ancient 
town had been granted, the institution would have been 
known as Clinton College, based upon the Heidelberg 
Catechism and the decisions of the Synod of Dort. The 
delay of fifteen years resulted in making it Union College, 
with a basis as broad as the fundamental convictions of 
Christendom. It is doubtful whether such an issue could 
have been reached a century ago anywhere except in a 
Dutch colony. Union's most distinguished historian has 
painted in glowing colors that type of Puritanism per- 
sonified in William the Silent, the enlightened and tol- 
erant Puritanism of Holland. Dirck Romeyn and the 
Dutch burghers, who a hundred years ago directed the 
policy of this historic Church, illustrated the noblest 
qualities of the Netherlands when, in the founding of the 
college, they sacrificed the narrower interests of a de- 
nomination that they might advance the larger interests 
of Christian civilization. The union proposed and accom- 
plished was not a union of Churches, but a union of 
Christians in the high walks of learning. The founders 
of the college took pains to guard against ecclesiastical 
domination by providing that the majority of the trustees 
should not belong to any one sect. It was their aim to 
establish an institution which should be a common 
ground of meeting for men of all creeds, where they 
might rub off their sharp points of antagonism, and dis- 
cover underneath all superficial differences their common 
heritage of faith in Christ, and their common calling to 
patriotic citizenship. Their design is well expressed in 
the motto selected for Union University, " In Necessariis 
Unitas, in Dubiis Libertas, in Omnibus Caritas." 

There has never been occasion to modify the original 



DISCOUESE. 89 

plan. Union College has not escaped those strifes which 
arise from personal idiosyncrasy or conflict of policies; 
but through all its history there has been no hint of 
cleavage along the lines of denominational preference. 
Here Baptists and Methodists, Cameronians and Catho- 
lics, have measured strength in the generous emulation 
of classic pursuits, learning to estimate at their true 
value the great things in which they agree, and the 
minor things in which they differ. The history of Union 
alumni bears witness that this sympathetic association 
has not impaired their loyalty to their respective Churches, 
but they have been able to distinguish between loyalty 
and bigotry, and to rejoice in a brotherhood that is 
broader than their particular household of faith. The 
influence of that catholicity which has prevailed here is 
illustrated by the fact that an honored son of this col- 
lege, imbued with its spirit and endeared to its faculty 
by his manly and Christian qualities, is to-day the trusted 
coadjutor of that enlightened prelate who represents the 
See of Rome at the national capital. 

Eternity alone can reveal how much the irenic spirit 
of Union College has done to soften sectarian asperities, 
to extend the reach of Christian charity, and to hasten the 
fulfilment of the Saviour's prayer for His disciples yet 
unborn, " that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art 
in me, and I in thee." 

This may be still a far-off event, but it is a divine 
event, and toward it the deepest longings of Christendom, 
inspired by the Holy Ghost, are steadily tending. To 
labor for this blessed consummation, our college stands 
irrevocably committed by her charter, by her traditions, 
by the life-work of that great cloud of witnesses who, in 
spiritual presence, now encompass us. 

Amid the rejoicings of these commemorative days, 
fragrant with hallowed and inspiring recollections, let us 
consecrate ourselves anew to this holy purpose, and 



90 UNION COLLEGE. 

breathe for our alma mater the prayer so eloquently 
voiced by her distinguished orator of fifty years ago : 
" Honored Parent ! Heretofore you have been the home 
of religious toleration. May you be so still. Thus far 
you have been the nursery of free spirits, of a compre- 
hensive and large-minded but reverent philosophy ; thus 
may it always be. . . . And when the term of fifty years 
has again rolled away, and your children and children's 
children shall come back to celebrate your praise and 
write up your records, may it be found that this is then 
the home of brave and true men — of men braver, truer, 
holier than we, that better and wiser spirits have risen 
up to direct your counsels, and that a higher scholarship 
and a deeper sanctity are sending out from these shrines 
rich blessings on the world." 



Conference on rtje delations of ftriigion anb arbitration. 



ADDRESS 

BY REV. A. C. SEWALL, D. D. 

Minister of the First Reformed Church, Schenectady, N. Y. 

WE are met for friendly conference. It is assumed 
at the outset that we are not all agreed. Our aim 
is not contention, however. We seek not to defeat or 
even to persuade, but to enlighten and to help each other. 
The results of our conference ought to be the more valu- 
able because of our difference of standpoint and diversity 
of view. 

Our theme is broad and of great importance — "Re- 
ligion and Education." A thorough discussion would 
require the consideration of religion as such, and of the 
different religions as they appeared among men, with 
the relation of each to education. I anticipate, however, 
that we shall, in this discussion, understand by religion 
Christianity, and by education culture. 

Religion without education quickly degenerates into 
superstition and idolatry. It is of the very genius of 
Christianity, and helps to mark it as divine, that it both 
requires and promotes education. We shall heartily 
agree, I think, with Dr. Storrs, that, "Whatever else is 



92 UNION COLLEGE. 

true or not, the superlative educational force of the world 
appears embodied in this system of faith which came by 
peasants as its ministers, and the Son of a carpenter as 
its mysterious sovereign Teacher." 

Christianity requires education to master its written 
documents and rightly to read its history; it promotes 
education by its appeal to thought, the challenge which 
not a few of its truths throw down to the human reason, 
and by the stimulus it gives to the very highest possible 
personal attainments. It is a simple matter of history 
that the free public school, the college, and the university, 
are all the outgrowth of Christianity. Wherever educa- 
tion has sought to divorce itself from religion, however, 
culture has gradually lost the virtuous self-control neces- 
sary to guide it to noble ends. Unless education, accord- 
ing to Dr. Channing's fine conception, "unfolds and 
directs aright our whole nature; unless it calls forth 
power of every kind, power of thought, affection, will, 
and outward action; power to observe, to reason, to judge, 
to contrive; power to adopt good ends firmly and to 
pursue them efficiently; power to govern ourselves and 
to influence others ; power to gain and to spread happi- 
ness," it fails of its true end and becomes an instrument 
of evil. 

" Clear ideas," says F. W. Robertson, " do not advance 
the soul one step toward the power of doing what is 
right, neither has cultivated understanding any necessary 
connection with strengthened, much less purified, will, in 
which alone moral excellence lies." Christianity alone 
can purify and give that strength to the will which shall 
make it the capable and trustworthy guide of an ever- 
advancing culture. 

We, therefore, wed Christianity and culture, religion 
and education ; or rather, we rejoice that they have been 
wedded in a higher sphere than the humble sanctuary of 
our thought; and we, therefore, feel justified in pronoun- 



ADDBESS. 93 

cing, "What God hath joined together let not man put 
asunder." 

The appropriateness of our theme to this place requires 
but the briefest explanation. Union College, in celebrat- 
ing her one hundredth anniversary, is not disposed to 
forget the place where she was born. Personally, I feel 
justly proud to-day to be the official successor of that 
far-seeing, liberal, and large-minded man, Rev. Dr. Dirck 
Romeyn, the seventh pastor of this First Reformed 
Church, to whom the Dutch Reformed denomination, 
Union College, the City of Schenectady, and the State of 
New York owe so large a debt of gratitude. I hold in 
my hand the original agreement entered into by a meet- 
ing of citizens, called at Dr. Romeyn's suggestion and at 
which he presided, pursuant to which the Academy was 
built, which, ten years later, and largely under Dr. 
Romeyn's influence, became Union College. It is signifi- 
cant of the wise catholicity of the founders that in the 
original charter of the college a clause was inserted pro- 
viding that no religious denomination shall ever acquire 
a majority in the board of trustees. The college was 
meant to be in reality as well as in name a Union college, 
admitting to all its privileges and on an equal footing 
young men desirous of liberal culture, whatever their 
personal religious preferences. From the beginning the 
college has aimed, and it still aims, to be true to the pur- 
pose of its founders, nor will those who now administer 
its affairs consent to limit the execution of that purpose 
by the old-time conceptions of liberality. They rather 
seek to keep fully abreast of the times in the effort to 
maintain the broadest catholicity consistent with loyalty 
to truth as such, whatever its source and aim. 

We, therefore, welcome to this discussion to-day rep- 
resentatives of different bodies of Christians, that each 
may freely speak from his own standpoint of the rela- 
tions between religion and education as he conceives 



94 UNION COLLEGE. 

them, or of methods, tendencies, needs, requirements, en- 
couragements, as each may deem conducive to the best 
results of our conferring* with each other. 

Permit me to preface the introduction of the several 
speakers with this simple sentiment : May that unity of 
all true believers for which Christ Jesus prayed be not 
inconsiderably promoted by this and all kindred assem- 
blages. 

It gives me pleasure to introduce as the first speaker 
of the afternoon a gentleman who represents that great 
movement to which England and the world owe so much 
for the revival of spiritual Christianity, as well as for its 
educational institutions, the Rev. B. B. Loomis, of the 
Class of '63, now pastor of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of Canajoharie, New York. 



ADDEESS 

BY REV. B. B. LOOMIS, D. D., PH. D. 

Class of 1863. 

REPRESENTING THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

MY heart is filled with a twofold joy to-day. I am 
permitted to return to alma mater and unite with my 
fellow-alumni and the citizens of this goodly city in cel- 
ebrating the centennial of Old Union — and I am also, 
through the genuine catholicity which makes the name 
" Union " more than a mere empty title, given a few min- 
utes in which to represent the Church of my choice, my 
spiritual alma mater, and trace some of her work for re- 
ligion and education by the side of Union College, down 
through the century. 

Methodism was born at a university and in a revival, 
and hence has always been in a high degree favorable to 
both religion and education. The youngest of all the great 
denominations, its earnest evangelizing spirit has given it 
remarkable success in gathering people into Christian con- 
gregations, and training them in habits of religion and 
virtue. 

Anticipating the discovery of the correlation of forces 
by half a century, the early Methodists soon learned how 
to transmute the spiritual fervor of their converts into 
religious activity, and developed a zeal which has led the 
Church to push out with the advancing tides of immigra- 



96 UNION 'COLLEGE. 

tion and plant the institutions of Christianity on the ever- 
widening frontier of our civilization. 

Its system of circuit-preaching, by which one earnest 
man could supply a dozen or more scattered hamlets or 
country neighborhoods with religious services, was ad- 
mirably adapted to pioneer work, and enabled the de- 
nomination to lay broad and enduring foundations for 
the great Church which has since arisen. 

The economy of Methodism provides for the use of her 
forces with the least possible loss of power. Through her 
unique system of pastoral supply she has no vacant pul- 
pits and no idle pastors. The frequent changes in the 
pastorate of the churches keep the great fundamental 
truths of Christianity, with their divine impressiveness 
and saving power, constantly before the people, and the 
Divine Spirit has greatly honored the simple, plain, prac- 
tical preaching of the truth as it is in Jesus. 

It is a matter of simple historical accuracy to say that 
Methodism stands to-day the largest, and numerically by 
far the strongest, of all the Protestant denominations of 
America. 

Her various branches on this continent have now a total 
of four million five hundred thousand communicants, 
ministered to by more than twenty-nine thousand clergy- 
men and sheltered in nearly fifty thousand places of 
worship, of all classes, from the lowliest to the most mag- 
nificent, with an aggregate value of one hundred and fifty- 
seven million dollars. Special care has always been taken 
of the children and youth, so that the Sunday-schools of 
American Methodism enroll more than four million mem- 
bers and the Young People's Societies, known mostly as 
Epworth Leagues, are to-day over a million strong. 

While building up this colossal ecclesiastical structure, 
Methodism has not forgotten the claims of needy and suf- 
fering humanity. Her philanthropic and eleemosynary 
enterprises have been on the same broad scale. 



ADDBESS. 97 

Her bishops now circumnavigate the globe in their of- 
ficial visits to her world-wide missions. A few years since, 
when, for the first time, the annual missionary contribu- 
tions of the Methodist Episcopal Church aggregated a 
round million of dollars, the missionary secretaries re- 
ceived a congratulatory note from Dr. R. S. Storrs, ex- 
pressing the hope (while implying a fear) that the effort 
was not a mere spasm of benevolence, and that the 
grand advance would be maintained. The contributions 
of the Church have never since fallen below that mark, 
and last year, amidst all the financial stringency of the 
times, $1,137,000 was poured into the treasury of the 
parent society, while half a million of dollars more were 
contributed by the Women's Home and Foreign Mission- 
ary Societies for the same great cause. The Board of 
Church Extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
has during the twenty-eight years of its existence re- 
ceived and disbursed more than $5,000,000, and aided in 
the erection of over 9000 churches, while for several 
years past the denomination has been building churches 
at the rate of two for every working day in the year. 

Though but a young Church, having celebrated the 
centennial of her organization less than eleven years 
since, she has already established her hospitals at various 
points and instituted homes for the indigent aged and for 
homeless children ; and in every department of real re- 
ligious work this Church has been striving to obey the 
mandate of her divine Lord and Master, to preach the 
gospel to every creature, and fulfil the design of her ex- 
istence by spreading Scriptural holiness over the land. 

The Methodist Church has also always been the firm 
friend and earnest advocate of education, in both its ele- 
mentary and its higher forms. 

The slur of illiteracy has sometimes been flung at 
Methodism by those who were ignorant of her origin and 
history ; but facts show conclusively that no one de- 
7 



98 UNION COLLEGE. 

nomination has done more to awaken and train the in- 
tellect than has she. 

It is trne that from the first the denomination has 
admitted many laborers into the ranks of her ministry 
who were not liberally educated, but this has been from 
the necessities of the rapidly-growing work rather than 
from choice, and the proportion of such is every year 
decreasing, while a large number of graduates from both 
college and theological seminary enter the Methodist 
ministry annually. 

John Wesley, besides writing and printing many works 
of his own, also abridged and published many other 
books for the use of his societies in England, and made 
all his itinerant preachers agents for the dissemination 
of this literature among the people. 

American Methodism, soon after the organization of 
the Church in 1784, established a religious publishing 
house in the City of New York on a borrowed capital of 
$600. This establishment has grown and expanded with 
the growth of the Church until now there are branch 
houses in the principal cities of the land, with an aggre- 
gate capital of over $3,000,000. 

During the past century $50,000,000 worth of religious 
literature has gone from this source into the homes of 
the people, leaves from the tree of life for the health of 
the nation. A great family of denominational periodi- 
cals has sprung up, of widely differing characteristics, 
from the stately review, filled with the results of the 
ripest thought and the highest culture, down through 
the ranks of the family religious newspaper, the organ 
for the young people's societies, the teachers' journal and 
the children's papers, all ably conducted and vigorously 
sustained. 

The total circulation of such periodicals in all the 
branches of American Methodism is not less than three 
and a half million copies, and it is impossible to ade- 



ADDEESS. 99 

quately estimate the leavening power for good exerted 
by all these magazines and papers. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church also, very soon after 
taking an organic form in this land, showed its devotion to 
the cause of higher education by establishing an institu- 
tion of learning, known as Cokesbury College, at Abing- 
don, Maryland. This school, of high classical grade, did 
good work until twice destroyed by fire, and was the pecul- 
iar charge of the pioneer bishop, Asbury, who went up and 
down the land preaching on the close relations of relig- 
ion and education. The spirit of the primitive bishop 
has been preserved in the Methodist book of discipline, 
which makes it the duty of every pastor to preach spe- 
cifically on the subject of education, and to take an in- 
terest in all the young people of his charge who are seek- 
ing the advantages of higher education. 

Cokesbury College was the first of a long line of edu- 
cational institutions originated and fostered by the Meth- 
odist Church. Besides the educational work of Southern 
Methodism, the Methodist Episcopal Church has now in 
active operation no fewer than sixty theological sem- 
inaries, colleges, and universities, having property in 
lands, buildings, and endowments amounting to $24,000,- 
000, with instructors to the number of 1600, and 25,000 
students. Several of these institutions are, as the name 
implies, real universities, like our own Union University, 
haviug several complete departments, as those of liberal 
arts, law and medicine, or theology; or the fine arts of 
music, painting, and architecture. 

At the apex of Methodist educational institutions stands 
the newly-organized " American University " at the na- 
tional capital. This institution, which is for post-gradu- 
ate study only, is planned on the broadest scale, and 
aims to promote the highest and most thorough scholar- 
ship. 

Any view of the work of Methodism in education 



100 UNION COLLEGE. 

would be far from complete which omitted all mention 
of her fifty-six classical seminaries, where college pre- 
paratory work is done, and many young people who 
never reach the college are fitted to do well their work in 
life. 

It is but just to add that no small fraction of the edu- 
cational work of Methodism for the past twenty-five 
years has been a labor of love and Christian benevolence 
among the colored people of the South, nearly $3,000,- 
000 having been expended there within that time. 

Thus it is seen that the Methodist Church has been 
from the first, and never more so than now, the firm 
friend of true culture and real piety, believing that 
science and religion, the knowledge of the works and of 
the Word of God, should ever walk the earth, like twin- 
sisters, hand in hand to honor God and bless mankind. 



ADDRESS 

BY REV. WALTER SCOTT, A. M. 

Class of 1868. 

REPRESENTING THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

I COUNT it a privilege on the present occasion to speak 
for the Baptist people on the subject of Education. 
The theme assigned is "The Spirit of Baptists toward 
Higher Education." Their views on higher education do 
not differ materially from their views on education in 
general. I may, therefore, be allowed to give these gen- 
eral views on this important interest. 

First, the Baptist's attitude toward public education. 
His views on this subject are shaped by his views as to 
the relation of Church and State. It may not be neces- 
sary to say in this presence that Baptists have always 
stood for the complete severance of Church and State. 
If it be granted that public education is one of the func- 
tions of society organized in government, and Baptists 
so believe, such education should be conducted without 
control or interference on the part of any religious body. 
Such control or interference is a union of Church and 
State in a greater or less degree. Let the citizenship of 
the land develop public education on a broad and popu- 
lar basis, neither offending nor propagating the religious 
preferences of any part of the community. As nearly as 
possible it should be colorless in a religious way. On 



102 UNION COLLEGE. 

the other hand, irreligion must not be suffered to make 
public education a propaganda. In no school of the peo- 
ple let a man's faith be evil spoken of, nor any man's 
doubt. Other places abound for religious instruction 
and discussion. In brief, the Baptist's position toward 
public education is one of cordial sympathy as a citizen. 
He recognizes its necessary limitations, but believes no 
other agency has done or can do the work so well. Let 
its work stand. 

As to the development of public or State, as distin- 
guished from National, education the Baptist holds pro- 
nounced opinions. Here, also, his religious views color 
his opinions. The Baptist Church is preeminently a 
democratic body. It has been called an ideal republic. 
Every member has a voice in its affairs. What may be 
called a dual ballot — that is, male and female suffrage — 
has long been the order in Baptist churches. Their 
strength has lain in the body of the people, rather than 
in what are called the higher and lower classes. These 
facts put the Church in sympathy with the people. It 
believes in the rise of the people, or, if you prefer, of all 
peoples. It has no fears of vast popular movements. 
They are to be expected, and result in good. Baptists 
hold, from their strong, democratic spirit, to the propo- 
sition that equal privileges should be open to all youth 
in public education. To apply and illustrate this propo- 
sition would take more space than is here given. It 
must suffice to say that this principle has scarcely been 
put in practice as yet in any community, much less in 
any State. There is a difference in every city between 
the wealthy and the poor sections. There is a distinction 
in every State between the rich and the poor district, be- 
tween city and country. The truth seems to be that the 
State has not yet placed its hand firmly on the education 
of its youth. Country district, town, or city manage- 
ment, purely local and limited agencies, baffle society in 



ADDKESS. 103 

its aim after equality of educational privilege. Massa- 
chusetts, always in the van in public education, has 
taken important steps in recent legislation. Other 
States are wheeling into line, but nowhere is the goal yet 
reached. Public education should be lifted out of the 
narrow limits hitherto existing and recognized as one of 
the chief interests of the entire commonwealth. The 
times are ripe for a comprehensive plan of State educa- 
tion which shall insure equality of educational privilege 
to all youth. 

Turning to National as distinguished from State edu- 
cation, Baptists hold a similar attitude. Grive all youth 
of the nation their birthright — equality of educational 
privilege. It is, of course, conceded that the States have 
a sphere of educational work into which the nation may 
perhaps never enter, and that States may vary in their 
educational policy. But it remains that the nation has 
an educational opportunity and duty. It has already 
its naval and military schools and other agencies. A 
single battle may cost as much as a college or university. 
No one believes our nation will stop here. The concep- 
tion of a national university is not new, but it has not 
taken definite form. The idea has been advanced and 
advocated by some of the most practical men of affairs 
the nation has produced. Give the nation a few men 
with the instincts of educators and statesmen to lead, 
and the vague aspirations looking toward national edu- 
cation will be soon embodied in legislation and institu- 
tions. 

Such an enterprise may result in good by preventing 
the States from enterprises in the way of State universi- 
ties, if by university is meant an institution for profes- 
sional and graduate study. Such work involves large 
funds, teaching power, and appliances. It is expensive 
and needless for most States. Let fewer but better uni- 
versities be the new order. If the State carries its youth 



104 UNION COLLEGE. 

from kindergarten through college or its equivalent, uni- 
versity work may fall to the States on a joint basis or to 
the nation. However these matters may be wrought out, 
the Baptist holds to a public educational policy which 
shall give each youth his birthright — equality of educa- 
tional privilege. 

Second, the Baptist's attitude toward the denomination 
in education. 

Baptists believe the denomination also has a place in 
education on account of the limitations of public educa- 
tion. Such limitations appear in the teaching fostered 
under a public system. These have been partly sug- 
gested. It is not possible to enlarge upon them here. 
Under both public and denominational systems, especially 
in the highest ranges of study and teaching, freedom of 
teaching, or Lehrfreiheit, and freedom of study, or Lemfrei- 
heit, must be defined and guarded. With such freedom, 
however, there must go responsibility, for freedom and 
responsibility cannot be separated. 

Public education is limited in another way. Each com- 
munity or commonwealth works by itself. Nation stands 
apart from nation, State from State. The denomination 
is an inter-state, or rather an international, agency which 
may run to and fro over the entire earth. It is not 
bounded by national limits, but is a commonwealth dif- 
fused among the nations. Here is an opportunity not to 
be lightly passed by. It is greater to-day than ever be- 
fore. They err who think the denomination is a spent 
force in education. It is rather an old force under new 
and favorable conditions. The British War Office touches 
to-day with telegraphic finger half of the globe. A great 
religious body with membership in all parts of the earth 
reaches humanity by its educational effort as never in the 
past. 

Baptists again believe the Christian denomination has 
a place in education, because religion furnishes a basis 



ADDEESS. 105 

and motive for education. Nothing moves man so pro- 
foundly as religion. It stirs the deepest sentiments of 
the heart. It begets the purest and holiest enthusiasms. 
Under its benign teachings a nobler type of manhood 
thrives and human brotherhood grows apace. State and 
National education, while not formally religious, owe their 
origin to its pervasive spirit, which, like leaven, spreads 
through the body politic, and, like the sun, sends its light 
everywhere. Religion molds the foremost races, and lifts 
the lowest stratum of humanity to a loftier plane. The 
most powerful motives for self-improvement and for the 
betterment of humanity come from the spirit of religion. 
It is the strongest factor in universal education. 

Still further, the experience of Baptists in education 
strengthens their faith in it. Many great teachers have 
arisen in this communion. It has given to American ed- 
ucation an Anderson and Dodge, a Wayland and Sears, a 
Kendrick and Hackett, a Robinson and Strong, a Broad- 
dus and Andrews, a Curry and Harper, a Welling and 
Boyce. Strong supporters of this work have also risen 
up among Baptists who have given their wealth to edu- 
cation. This has increased more in recent years. The 
denomination has founded and maintained numerous 
schools, academies, colleges, and seminaries. Reports of 
the Baptist denomination give statistics on this head. I 
venture merely to summarize them. 

Colleges and theological seminaries in the United 
States: 42 institutions, 789 teachers, 10,322 pupils, 
$22,884,991 total property. 

Total institutions in the United States (including above, 
with some additional colleges and numerous academies) : 
159 institutions, 1,846 teachers, 31,337 pupils, $31,927,- 
624 total property. 

The American Baptist Missionary Union (largest Bap- 
tist missionary society) has in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
1,246 schools and 26,214 pupils. 



106 UNION COLLEGE. 

Totals. 

United States 31,337 pupils 

Other countries (estimated), Caucasian 2,000 " 
A. B. M. Union, missionary fields . . . 26,214 " 
Other societies (estimated) 13,000 " 



72,551 



The majority of these pupils are in schools of secondary 
grade and higher. 

These institutions were started from the noblest relig- 
ious motives. Their teachers put their heart into the 
work. Their students have been a blessing to the world. 
To-day these schools stand by the Hudson, the Mississippi, 
the Congo, the Ganges. This effort is moving on in the 
great world centers, at London, Calcutta, Yokohama, 
Chicago, Washington, and in remote and neglected places 
among poor and obscure people. It aims at the backward 
as well as the foremost races. None can contemplate the 
educational work of this or of other great Christian bodies 
with indifference. The work is a growing, not a waning, 
enterprise. It is a rosy dawn, not a fading day. 

The Christian denomination is thus a world-wide force 
in education. State and nation plan for a limited popu- 
lation or area ; this contemplates the training of the race. 
Measure its field — it is as broad as the earth, as extensive as 
humanity. How can it lay down its work without being 
faithless to a great opportunity? On the contrary, it 
must organize and correlate its agencies better than in the 
past. Let it continue to train and send forth leaders. 
Let it fire the heart of nations with a generous sympathy 
for their own populations. It may appeal to men of 
wealth to consecrate their wealth to this cause, which lies 
at the basis not alone of social progress, but of the very 
life of society. It gives humanity a true ideal and leads 
on to equal and universal education. 



ADDEESS. 107 

There is no time to enlarge upon these themes, but 
ampler treatment would put in stronger light the idea I 
have tried to emphasize, that the Christian denomination 
has a broadening field and opportunitj^ in universal edu- 
cation. I may name in this connection one characteristic 
fact of our times — the consecration of great wealth to 
education. Go back a quarter of a century. Who could 
foresee the recent vast accumulations of wealth ? Or who 
could foretell the great benefactions of men of wealth to 
education ? Cooper, Cornell, Colgate, Pratt, Drexel, Stan- 
ford, Hopkins, Fayerweather, Slater, Peabody, Rockefel- 
ler, — we cannot even call the roll of names that will never 
fade from the memory of humanity. If education ranks 
among the first interests of the race, these men stand 
among the truest benefactors of mankind. They are 
master-builders in rearing the fabric of a better social 
order. Analyze the lives and motives of these men, and 
it will appear that a religious motive directly or indirectly 
impelled them in their undertakings. They were not dis- 
obedient to the heavenly vision. This will not cease. 
Men will devote wealth in the future to education as they 
have done, but in a larger way and on a broader plan. 
They have given millions ; they will give tens of millions. 

Mark, also, how plans have grown. Peter Cooper gave 
to the youth of a city, Ezra Cornell to the youth of a 
commonwealth, Daniel Slater to a neglected race diffused 
over the South, George Peabody to another race in the 
same region. A Christian philanthropist will rise up in 
the future to devote his wealth to the better training of 
youth, not in a city, state, or nation merely, but the whole 
world over. Such a gift will mark a new era in uni- 
versal education. The administration of such gifts is 
to-day possible to a degree never before equaled in hu- 
man history. 

Third, the Baptist's attitude toward denominational 
cooperation in education. 



108 UNION COLLEGE. 

The times are not ripe for full cooperation as yet, be- 
cause the world-field is so vast that they who work in it 
scarcely touch each other. But soon the vastness of the 
field will show the necessity of joint labor in universal 
education. How such union of effort may be effected we 
cannot discuss here, but a law of organization or principle 
of cooperation will, doubtless, touch these great and be- 
neficent educational forces of our common Christianity. 
Already there are suggestions pointing along this line. 
The Chautauqua movement has a home in many parts 
of the world. The international Y. M. C. A. work is es- 
tablished far and wide, and is pushing forward with a 
spirit big with hope. Christian denominations have their 
schools in all lands. The printed page and the teacher 
have an open world before them. I point to the history 
of this college, standing at the threshold of its second 
century, as an illustration of such cooperation of Chris- 
tian men. Eliphalet Nott, the Presbyterian; Alonzo 
Potter, the Episcopalian ; Francis Wayland, the Baptist ; 
John Newman, the Methodist ; Tayler Lewis, of the Re- 
formed Church, labored side by side, loyal to the Churches 
of which they were ornaments and the cause of education 
of which they were promoters. Whatever may be the 
future of this college, — we confidently hope it may be 
one of honor and usefulness, — the idea on which it rests 
is destined to have a large place in Christian education 
throughout the world. 

I have sought briefly to give the views of Baptists on 
public education, State and National; on denominational 
education, and on the cooperation of Christian denomi- 
nations in education. Baptists believe the Christian idea 
to be fundamental as a basis, motive, and inspiration. It 
is the Son of Man who brings to the sons of men in all 
the earth equal privileges in religion and education. 

The work goes forward as Baptists view it. Events 
and upheavals may seem to check advance, but they do 



ADDKESS. 109 

so in appearance only, not in reality. Mental and spiri- 
tual forces, like the great operations of Nature, the falling 
dew, the spread of light, the growth of harvests, move 
silently but surely. A fairer social order is rising; but, 
as in the rearing of the ancient temple, we hear no sound 
of chisel, no blow of hammer. To that regenerated form 
of society we may apply the immortal words of Milton : 
"Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation, 
rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking 
her invincible locks; methinks I see her as an eagle, 
mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled 
eyes at the full noonday beam, purging and unsealing 
her long-abused sight at the fountain itself of heavenly 
radiance." Or it may be like the earthly dawning of the 
prophetic vision, fair but long delayed, of a new heaven 
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, where 
knowledge fills the earth as waters cover the mighty 
deep. 



ADDRESS 



BY REV. THOMAS E. BLISS, D. D. 

Class of 1848. 



REPRESENTING THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

THERE is aii atmosphere, it is said, imperceptible to 
many, but which in fact gathers around every insti- 
tution of learning in the land. The philosophy of a cer- 
tain institution or college used to be often spoken of as 
having come from the atmosphere of that region. It is 
so to-day with regard to Old Union. In many things 
there is a peculiar atmosphere which is found here, and 
which is represented in the motto on the seal of our 
beloved mother : " In essentials, unity ; in non-essen- 
tials, liberty; in all things, charity." This spirit has 
taken strong hold of the great body of the graduates 
of this University. As one of its representatives in the 
East for years, and for more than a quarter of a century 
in the West, I think I can bear good testimony to the 
fruitful and beneficent results which have come from 
the cultivation of the spirit and principle presented in 
that motto. In my own native State of Massachusetts 
we were wont to boast of our deep interest in educa- 
tion. Our forefathers had hardly landed in the region 
of Massachusets Bay or on Plymouth Rock before they 
began to consider the question of education. Old John 
Harvard, a Puritan divine, founded Harvard College as 



ADDKESS. Ill 

early as 1636, by giving eight hundred pounds sterling, and 
that institution has lived on and has been a power in the 
educational world. Yale took its rise in the beginning 
of the eighteenth century. It started with only a few 
books contributed by the neighboring ministers in that 
region, but its onward progress has been marked with 
power; and all along there have been great glory and 
honor attending the history of that institution. Turn- 
ing now to Dartmouth — Old Dartmouth, where Webster 
graduated, and that prince of flowery orators, Rufus 
Choate, — we find there that education was one of the 
first things which took hold of the popular mind. Old 
Dr. Wheelock, early in the enterprise of settling the 
State of New Hampshire, there founded an Indian school. 
Many imagine that Indian education is a modern thing. 
Oh, no! Our fathers did ten times more of that work in 
proportion to their means and numbers than we are 
doing to-day. They founded Dartmouth College as an 
Indian school. Then it was endowed by Lord Dart- 
mouth, and rose to its present position of honor among 
the great educators of the East. Williams had a similar 
origin, though not an Indian school. Amherst came 
on later ; then Brown. I was settled once within fifteen 
miles of Brown University, and I love it almost as well 
as any other, though not quite as well as Old Union. 
It is one of those honored institutions that took their 
rise in the early history of New England, and which have 
done a mighty work in sending out master-minds for 
the education of the nation, who have scattered far and 
wide from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and have done, 
and are doing, a beneficent work in laying foundations 
broad and deep in all the new and rising States of the 
great West. 

But we must not dwell too long upon this subject. 
I have been exceedingly pleased to hear the reports of 
the work of the Baptists, but when we come to speak 



112 UNION COLLEGE. 

of the early Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Dutch 
Reformed — as we used to call that Church ; and it is 
an honored name, the Reformed Church, now called — 
we find that they were often blended in their great 
religious and educational enterprises. As late as 1815, 
if I remember correctly, the Presbyterian and Congre- 
gational Churches were united as one in the support 
of Home and Foreign Missions. New England sent out 
her young men and maidens and settled all the western 
region of New York State very largely. When I was 
there near Rochester supplying a pulpit some years ago, 
they requested me to write the history of the Presbyterian 
Church. When I looked through the old records of 
that Church I found it had a creed as sound as its songs, 
ringing clear on all the fundamental doctrines of the 
kingdom of our God; and yet it was for sixty years in its 
history a Congregational Church, fouuded by a colony 
from Pittsford, Vermont. So I might go on to almost 
any extent showing how the blended strength of these 
two great bodies has wrought grandly in the great work 
of education and the greater work of the kingdom of our 
God. 

But let me come a little closer to the present. Having 
spent most of my ministry upon the frontier of the West, 
I would like to show you briefly how these things work 
together. "In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, lib- 
erty. In all things, charity." Some years ago when I 
left my charge in the Old Bay State, I went to the Upper 
Lakes, and there, upon the shores of Lake Superior, at 
Hancock, I organized a Congregational Church. Within 
six months after I went there we had members, of seven 
different religious bodies who were members in good 
standing in that Church; yet I never saw a more united 
Church. Its members worked together harmoniously; 
they were all seeking one common object, the advance- 
ment of the Redeemer's kingdom, the salvation of im- 



ADDKESS. 113 

mortal souls. I witnessed some beautiful sights in my 
own home there. Many times after its occurrence the 
fact impressed me that upon a certain evening which 
I now recall there knelt side by side in prayer in my 
house members of these seven different religious bodies ; 
yet no one would ever have dreamed that they ever be- 
longed to different religious denominations; no one would 
ever have thought that they had not been from child- 
hood in the same religious family. I also found that 
there was just as much readiness to cooperate. The 
spirit was large — in the great essentials they were one; 
private opinions they held without disturbance, but in 
working together for Grod they were a unit. 

Again and again it has been my privilege to do this 
same thing. I am pastor to-day of a church in which 
there are representatives of some half-dozen different 
bodies among its members. "We never think of that 
difference. We all work together and pray together. 
My friends, I have found some of the sweetest hours 
of my ministerial life of over forty years among those 
blended souls, singing the songs of Zion, working and 
praying together, and for the common welfare of Christ's 
kingdom. Ecclesiastical form is one of the smallest 
things we have to consider. It is the union of hearts, 
the union of sympathy, the union of aspiration — all 
drawing their inspiration from that divine fountain 
which flows from the pierced side of our precious Sa- 
viour — in this is the hiding of the strength of the king- 
dom of our God in this world. It is to these great 
things that we need to give our thoughts, the things that 
when rightly presented bring souls together as one, so 
that they all speak and sing in the sacred " language 
of Canaan." Yes; that is one of the beautiful things 
that I can recollect here in other days, even in this old 
city of our great love. We wish you to understand that 
we intend to carry forward that spirit of Christian union 



114 UNION COLLEGE. 

more and more in the West. It is doing a great and 
blessed work there. Different religious bodies have their 
place and value ; but in communities where there are only 
a few, perhaps half a dozen, Christians, of as many dif- 
ferent denominations, there comes in the need of union 
and of blending of hearts in the work for the Master, 
which is attended with the most benign results. In edu- 
cational matters, let me say that our Methodist friends 
have the start in that region, and we are very glad of 
it. The conditions are such that we may find it neces- 
sary to unite in one great Union University, taking dear 
Old Union as our model; and I have recommended it 
again and again. I was glad that Dr. Alexander to-day 
made mention of the fact that in this college and in its 
Board of Trustees there never had been any discord be- 
tween the various denominational elements. It is one of 
the secrets of power in the educational and religious world 
that we, especially in earlier frontier work, hold fast to 
the motto of dear Old Union ; and with that we expect to 
win success, success not only in educational matters, but 
also that success which is higher — success in the up- 
building of the Redeemer's kingdom among the great 
mountains of God, where, we trust, it shall stand so 
long as time shall endure. 



ADDEESS 

BY REV. WILLIAM D. MAXON, D. D. 

Class of 1878. 

REPRESENTING THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

IT is one advantage of a conference of this kind that 
each speaker can contribute his own especial thought, 
and so add to the sum total of thoughts. I regard this 
subject somewhat in a general way, and perhaps more 
especially from a philosophic point, with some consider- 
ation of the particular difficulties which obtain in the 
matter of applying religion and education. If I were 
asked to speak specifically of the contributions of the 
Church of England and the American Episcopal Church 
to-day to education, I should have no need to feel ashamed 
beside the quota of results that have been presented here 
this afternoon by our Baptist and Methodist brethren. 
However, I do not feel myself quite justified in speaking 
specifically of the results of the work of the American 
Episcopal Church in matters of education and religion ; 
and I can only trust that as I speak as a loyal member 
of the American Episcopal Church, born and bred in it, 
you will take what I say as reflecting in some measure, 
though very poorly, the convictions which obtain in the 
Protestant Episcopal Church concerning the relation of 
religion to education. 



116 UNION COLLEGE. 

"It is the chief est of good things for a man to be him- 
self." 

This saying of Benjamin Whichcote, sometime Provost 
of King's College, Cambridge, will, I am sure, find full 
response in all who look for a real relation between reli- 
gion and education. It is the chiefest of good things for a 
man to be himself 

{a) It is one side of an eternal truth. The personality 
of man is real. No man is worthy of the name who does 
not respect his personality. Every man fails to be what 
he ought to be who is not educated up to the possibilities 
of his personality — to be himself; his real, true, best, 
and fullest self. 

(b) But there is another side to the eternal truth, and 
I cannot forbear to give this also in the words of the 
same old English scholar and churchman : 

"He that taketh himself out of God's hands into his 
own, by-and-by will not know what to do with himself." 

The personality of God is also real. Apart from God 
no man can really know himself. That, therefore, is no 
true education which does not, directly or indirectly, 
sooner or later, establish a living intercourse between the 
personality of man and the personality of God. That is a 
defective education which, tending to take a man out of 
God's hand into his own, puts him on the destructive 
broad- way of not knowing what to do with himself. For if 
the way of men lead not finally to God, who is the supreme 
consciousness of the universe, then man, indeed, shall be 
hopelessly lost amid the unconscious things of the universe. 

The relation, then, between religion and education is 
fundamental, and continuously necessary. In a real sense, 
religion and education are one and the same thing; for 
religion is the education of the full man, the educing, draw- 
ing-out, and leading forth of all the human faculties, 
forces, and feelings up to their unity and completion in 
the divine. 



ADDBESS. 117 

But our subject, I take it, is not transcendental, but 
practical. Religion lias a commonly accepted province, 
and education another. Can the two provinces touch with 
mutual advantage ? For us, religion means Christianity, 
and education stands for the pursuit and acquisition of 
modern knowledge. What relation do these bear one to 
the other? Are they enemies! Should they not be 
friends and co-workers ? 

1. The extreme partizans of secular knowledge insist 
that religion and education have nothing in common — 
that education is scientific, natural, progressive ; while 
religion is transcendental, visionary, traditional, and sta- 
tionary. Such opinion was prominent when I was in 
college, seventeen years ago. We young men were quite 
sure of the value of scientific education, but we were 
much mixed about religion ; we had a keen appreciation 
for the great names of Darwin, Spencer, and Huxley, but 
we had little or no vital interest in that Name which is 
above every name. The opinion still extensively holds. 
Many students, convinced of the conclusions of modern 
science, think it incompatible with their allegiance to 
knowledge to hold still to the Christian religion. The 
opinion has been popularized by Mr. Ingersoll, and to 
some extent by the novels of Mrs. Humphry Ward. 

But there are signs of reaction and revolt. Certainly 
the awful revelations that have been made in the city of 
London concerning the compatibility between the gross- 
est immorality and the extreme of the culture of secular- 
ism have made the whole civilized world sick of an 
education divorced from religion. Mr. Benjamin Kidd's 
" Social Evolution " is a strong mark of the rebound 
from the dogmatism of secularism, in its clear recognition 
of the power of religious belief in the evolution of society. 
Mr. Balfour's " Foundation of Belief " indicates the com- 
patibility of political leadership with clear convictions 
of Christian philosophy. Prof. George Romanes, who 
8* 



118 UNION COLLEGE. 

twenty years ago put forth a " Candid Examination of 
Theism " with a skeptical conclusion, has lately died in 
the communion of the Church of England, having left 
notes upon a " Candid Examination of Religion," treated 
from the standpoint of fact, while the words of James 
Anthony Froude in one of his recent works are reassur- 
ing : " Science grows and observers are adding daily to 
our knowledge of the material universe, but they tell us 
nothing of what we most ivant to know." 

Now, it is the Christian religion which tells us specific- 
ally, enthusiastically, authoritatively of ivhat we most 
want to know. Considering the precariousness of this 
earthly life, we may well ask, What is the use of this fev- 
erish pursuit of modern knowledge, with its prolonged 
and complicated process of education, if men shall ac- 
quire from it nothing permanent, nothing to outlast his 
earthly and temporal experience I Yes, it is religion, 
Christ's religion, which tells us what we most want to 
know ; it is religion, Christ's religion, which unveils and 
injects eternity into the midst of time; it is religion, 
Christ's religion, which gives coherency and unfailing 
inspiration to the pursuit of knowledge ; and, therefore, 
this religion must enter into education and continue 
with education throughout the whole course of man — 
religion in the education of the home, religion in the edu- 
cation of the school, religion in the education of the 
college and university, religion in the education of the 
busy after-life in the world. 

2. But what is the Christian religion! Here is con- 
fusion. Here is the difficulty of bringing religion and 
education together. Christendom is divided and subdi- 
vided. The chief teachers of Christ's religion differ 
greatly as to what constitutes its essential truth and effi- 
cacious methods. They are jealous of their respective 
convictions. Hence the Christian religion is banished 
from where, next after the home, it ought to be taught — 



ADDKESS. 119 

in the public schools. But so intense is the division of 
Christendom that both secularists and religionists unite 
in the one cry, " The School for the State and the Church 
for Grod." But that cry is not consistent with the claims 
of the Founder of the Christian religion. He came to 
bear witness to the truth. He said, " All power is given 
to Me in heaven and in earth." He sent the Divine Spirit 
to guide the world into the fullness of the truth. How, 
then, shall this supreme and universal Master be ex- 
cluded from anything that conduces to the welfare of 
man ? Shall He who bade men to love God not only 
with their hearts and souls but with their minds as well 
be denied His rightful place in the realm of knowledge — 
in the school, the college, the university? Nay, He who 
is supreme above all is, indeed, supreme in all. 

But, alas ! Christ is barred from his universal domain 
very largely because of the unhappy divisions among those 
who bear His Name. Nevertheless even here are signs 
of reaction and revolt. Across the lines of our divisions 
there has been raised a cry which, when fully caught up 
by the voice of our common Christianity, shall level to 
the ground the walls of sectarianism. That cry is, " Back, 
back to Christ ! The School, the State, the Church — all 
for God." Certainly, since 1886, when the Church of 
which I have the honor to be a minister put forth its 
platform of church-unity, there has been a remarkable 
interest in overcoming the divisions of Christendom. 
There have been many discussions and conferences, 
many biddings to prayer, and many sermons preached. 
All western Christianity, from the Pope at St. Peter's 
to the humblest missionary worker on our borders, has 
felt the thrill of the call to unity. It is a difficult prob- 
lem — one that will not soon be solved ; but one that 
must be solved if the power of the living Christ shall, 
indeed, have rightful sway over the opinions and preju- 
dices of men ; and when the problem of church-unity is 



120 UNION COLLEGE. 

solved, the problem of religion and education will need 
no solution. 

Then, indeed, shall be witnessed the restoration of that 
image which the famous Dean Colet, of St. Paul's, set 
up in the noble Christian school he founded in London 
in 1510. It was an image of the Child Jesus standing 
over the master's chair in the attitude of teaching, with 
the motto, " Hear ye Him." 



ADDRESS 

BY REV. FREDERICK Z. ROOKER, D. D. 

Class of 1884. 

EEPEESENTING THE KOMAN CATHOLIC CHUKCH. 

IT would be a sort of profanation to try to put into 
words the feelings with which I have come here to- 
day to speak to you and with you. These feelings are 
too profound and sacred to admit of any description. I 
have been invited to take an active part in the centennial 
celebration of my alma mater, and the respect and love 
with which I have ever regarded her have to-day min- 
gled with them a kind of awe, the most natural evolution 
of the reverence which preceded it, when I consider that 
she is now venerable, not only for her office as teacher of 
men and maker of men's characters, but also because her 
brow is circled by the hundred years of a glorious ex- 
istence. I feel honored by this privilege of speaking to- 
day; I feel glad to be alive to participate in the first 
centennial of Old Union. 

You have asked me to give the view which the Catholic 
Church takes of the subject of religion and education. 
It is not a difficult thing to do ; for the position of the 
Catholic Church in that matter is definitely and clearly 
formulated, and within her fold there is no chance for a 
diversity of opinions about it. Her teaching in this re- 
gard is the logical outcome of the great fundamental 



122 UNION COLLEGE. 

principles which permeate by their influence her whole 
system — principles about which, or about the evident 
and necessary deductions from which, she admits no 
discussion. 

Let me then, briefly, expose to you these principles, 
and I am sure that you will agree with me that the stand 
taken by the Church regarding the relation of religion to 
education is but a necessary conclusion. In the first 
place, the Church recognizes as existing two distinct or- 
ders — the natural order and the supernatural order; the 
order of nature and the order of grace. To her the su- 
pernatural order is just as real, and, for rational crea- 
tures, far more important than the natural. In her 
doctrine there is no place for the theory that man was 
created to work out as best he may a natural destiny, or 
by the use and perfection of his natural faculties to pro- 
gress through grades of evolution to a better and fuller 
knowledge of himself and the universe, and consequently 
to a better and fuller existence as a more perfected and 
highly developed element of that universe. 

No, the Catholic Church sees in man a creature made for 
one end only, and that end a supernatural one. At the 
moment of his creation he was placed in a supernatural 
state, and to that state was he restored by the work of 
the redemption. The one and only perfection to which 
he can attain is a perfection in, and of, the supernatural 
order. If he does not attain that he must forever remain 
unperfected. Do what he will with his natural faculties, 
develop them as he may in the natural order and by nat- 
ural means, there is nothing for him to hope for. You 
can see, then, how all-important it is for him to get into 
this supernatural order, and work and live and develop 
in it. Unless he does so, it were better for him never to 
have been born. 

Now, this supernatural order is a thing whose very ex- 
istence is absolutely hidden from the natural knowledge 



ADDKESS. 123 

of man. By his natural faculties alone he never could 
even come to know that there is such a thing, much less 
could he know anything about its details. And yet this 
knowledge is of supreme importance to him. Whence, 
then, is it to come ! Only from the Author of both the 
supernatural and the natural. Only the voice of God 
speaking directly to man could make known those things 
which are of first and highest concern to him. The se- 
crets thus manifested constitute the deposit of revealed 
truth, and the knowledge and understanding of them are 
the most necessary things in the life of man. To commu- 
nicate this knowledge, and to perfect this understanding, 
is the work of religion and of the teachers of religion. 
These considerations are enough for our present purposes. 
The conclusions which naturally flow from them will give 
a very accurate and sufficiently detailed explanation of 
the position of the Catholic Church in this matter. 

In the first place, then, what is education 1 It is the 
development of man by the imparting of knowledge to 
his intellect and by the training of his rational faculties 
so that they are made capable of doing the best that is in 
them. If the best that is in the rational faculties of man 
were confined to the natural order, then education would 
be complete and perfect when it should train those facul- 
ties up to their highest natural capacity. Then the pur- 
est and best and profoundest of philosophers would 
be to us examples of the most perfect results attainable 
by education. 

Then education would consist in leading our youth by 
the paths of naturally acquired knowledge to the highest 
summit of natural thought. It would mean to help youth 
to know as many as possible of the undisputed facts dis- 
covered by human investigation, and from these facts to 
formulate the highest and best abstractions. It would be 
performing its whole duty when it should train up men 
to walk in the paths of moral righteousness, to think 



124 UNION COLLEGE. 

high thoughts and do noble actions, to be animated in 
all things by a spirit of justice and truth, to govern their 
lives by prudence, to enjoy the world's goods with tem- 
perance, and bear the world's ills with fortitude ; when it 
should make men feel that they are indeed men and not 
beasts, and that they are all men and, as men, brothers. 
But the best that is in the rational faculties is not re- 
stricted by nature. It is true that nature limits their 
own independent activities; but it does not limit their 
capacity for things higher than nature, provided they be 
helped by a corresponding power. 

While Grod has not put into our nature the power of 
doing things above its own requirements, He has made 
it capable of receiving supernatural assistance. He has 
established for man a supernatural end; and though 
He has not given him the power of reaching that end by 
his own unaided exertions, He has made him so that, 
properly aided, he himself may make the necessary su- 
pernatural progress. 

Since, then, it is the work of education to develop the 
very best that is in man, and since the very best that is 
in him goes on above and beyond the natural, a develop- 
ment which takes no account of the supernatural cannot 
be truly called the education of a man. True education 
must be permeated by, and must tend to, the supernat- 
ural, for its one aim must be to lead man to his true end. 
But this is the same as to say that true education must 
be permeated, by revealed religion, for only in revealed 
religion do we find any knowledge of the supernatural or 
of its workings and requirements. 

This, then, is and always has been and always will be 
the position of the Catholic Church. On this question 
she cannot compromise. The communication of truths 
without reference to revealed religion may be instruction, 
but it can never be education; and instruction is not 
enough for man. The Church can never recognize as 



ADDEESS. 125 

perfect a system of teaching which prescinds from the 
existence of revealed religion. It may be that circum- 
stances make it impossible to have the best and most 
perfect, but it does not follow that she is therefore con- 
tent with what she holds to be imperfect. 

Instruction in profane knowledge is necessary, and if 
it cannot be had except it be taken apart from any re- 
ligious training, it will be so received, and every effort 
will be made to supply the deficiency in other ways. 
But the Catholic Church will never cease to long for, nor 
to work for, a better condition of things. If she did she 
would be false to herself and to the principles on which 
she is founded, and from which she draws her vitality. 
With her, revealed religion is the first and last necessity 
of life. Unless it entered into every phase of the activ- 
ity of her subjects, she could not exist. She would, 
therefore, be inconsistent did she not insist that it should 
have the first and middle and last place in the education 
of the young. 

So much, then, for the relation to education of the su- 
pernatural regarded objectively. But there remains for 
a full explanation of the Church's position the considera- 
tion of the supernatural in its subjective aspect. It does 
not suffice to set before the young the great truths of the 
supernatural order. These truths cannot, indeed, be 
known unless they are placed before our minds by a 
competent authority ; but even when placed before us 
they cannot be taken into our intellects and. assimilated 
by them, and made the ruling principles of our lives un- 
less our wills are gently molded to their acceptance. 

There is needed not only the manifestation of infinite 
wisdom, but the action of infinite grace ; and, in the ordi- 
nary disposition of Providence, this all-powerful yet all- 
gentle moving of the will is accomplished only when by 
careful training the will has been disposed to receive it. 
Here, then, is another, and perhaps the greater, office of 



126 UNION COLLEGE. 

education — the training of the will to make it submissive 
to the operation of grace. This training can be accom- 
plished only with the aid of a practical, tangible religion. 
The absolute necessity of these two elements in education 
the Church ever insists on, and she claims that just as 
man has no natural but only a supernatural end, so he 
can have no real natural but only a supernatural moral- 
ity, since morality is nothing but a means to the end. 
She claims that her position is supported by the history 
of all nations. The principles and precepts of what is 
called natural morality have been investigated and 
known to perfection for centuries. The practical fruit of 
this investigation has always been summed up in the 
almost despairing cry, " Video meliora proboque, sed dete- 
riora sequorP 

The Catholic Church finds a great and a natural satis- 
faction in watching the movement of thoughtful minds 
toward her position on this question. An organization 
made up of human subjects cannot divest itself of hu- 
manity so far as not to enjoy saying " I told you so," 
when a chance offers. The Church, confident of her posi- 
tion, stands firm and awaits the developments of time, 
and as she sees one or another of her teachings gaining 
acceptance outside her fold, she feels encouraged to go 
on hoping for that union of minds and hearts for which 
she has longed for centuries and for which she will long 
while she continues to exist. 



BACCALAUREATE SERMON 

BY THE RT. REV. WM. CROSWELL DOANE, D.D., LL. D. 

Bishop op Albany. 

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also 
of wood and of earth ; and some to honour and some to dishonour. 

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, 
sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good 
work. —2 Timothy, ii, 20, 21. 

IT is a pleasant thought to me that everywhere in the 
Church of which I am a minister, this evening, this 
portion of Holy Scripture is read in the Even-song serv- 
ice, sending its searching words into the listening ears of 
thousands ;. to be turned into some life influence in the 
hearts of men ; and to pass, by the natural tendency of 
Christian thought to Christian prayer, into an earnest 
resolve, or a still more earnest supplication, by which the 
character of a young man may be formed. And so, about 
us here to-night, concerned with the question of charac- 
ter-forming in you young men of Union, are gathered 
thoughts and prayers and lessons most congenial to this 
last religious service, for some of you, of your under- 
graduate lives. For this whole chapter is the outpouring 
of an old man's earnestness, and an old man's experience, 
to a young man who is as his son. It appeals, first of 
all, to that inherent element of youth and manhood — 
namely, strength, which is the young man's glory. It 
recognizes strength as something to be honored and 



128 UNION COLLEGE. 

held in high esteem, even as St. John wrote " unto young 
men because they were strong." It asks for this vigour 
of young manhood, that it may be " empowered (evSovaji/w) 
with the grace that is in Christ Jesus." Because the trend 
and tendency of young strength is to self-confidence and 
presumption ; and, strong as youth is, and young as your 
strength is, it is not sufficient for the burthens or the 
battles or the duties of life. It makes of every man a 
teacher and trustee for others, of all that he has heard 
and learned; and sends you out, not to the idle indul- 
gence of a selfish scholarship, but to hold up, and to hand 
on whatever light of truth you have gained here. It puts 
before you the conflict of life, in which you are enlisted 
for the truth and the right, " soldiers of Jesus Christ," 
and lays the laws down by which the fight is to be fought. 
"Enduring hardness"; not ease and indolence and sham 
fights and fine uniforms and parades, playing with the 
weapons that are given you for work; but what the 
heathen poet taught of preparation for their games, — 
" multa tulit fecitque puer sudavit et alsit," — courage, en- 
durance, simple living, abstinence, suffering, self-mastery. 
It bids you keep yourselves clear and unclouded by the 
blandishments and temptations of mere earthly things, 
entanglements with the affairs of this life, its pleasures, 
its seductions, its near horizons of aim, its narrow limita- 
tions of effort ; mere money-getting, mere place-hunting, 
mere selfish satisfaction of the senses. It forbids, as sure 
to lose even the earthly crown of a success that satisfies, 
all the mean tricks and subterfuges, the cpiibbles with 
truth, the indifference to honour, the advantages taken, 
the resorts to double-dealing, by which men " strive un- 
lawfully." It stands you outdoors, in the full light of 
Heaven's highest noon, with God's eye on you, in the 
whole enterprise and undertaking of your life, each to be 
" a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." It gives 
you the two tests by which alone all character is tried, 



BACCALAUEEATE SEKMON. 129 

whether it rest or not on the foundation of G-od ; the out- 
ward and visible sign of a confession of the Master, by 
which " the Lord knoweth them that are His," and the in- 
ward and spiritual grace, working deep down into the 
motives and aims and intentions of life, " Let every one 
that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." 
I know, of course, that it is the letter of an Apostle to a 
Bishop, a pastoral letter to one whom he had set in high 
place, in the Church of the Ephesians. But it is resonant 
and redolent with just what is, and ought to be, in my 
heart to-night, the urgency and entreaty of an old man to 
young men, " Thou, therefore, my son, be strong." 

The portion of this letter to which I especially address 
myself to-night, my friends, contains great principles of 
practical value for the life on which you are setting forth, 
and principles which need some application and some 
interpretation for their full understanding. 

The picture is of the palace of the Great King, in which 
are gathered the various vessels for His use. The great 
House is the Church, in the first and finest sense. And, 
in the larger and wider range of its inclusion, it is the 
world ; all His, the Master's, in which He is ; and every 
man in it, and every thing in it, His, for use. How great 
the House is, looked at any way. How little in compari- 
son the largest, costliest vessel of them all. In it He 
rules, Who is present, not in the sense of the old pan- 
theism — which was more reverent and more religious 
than some things that pass for Christianity now — but 
present in a reality of influence, of interference if you 
will, which makes every act and every instant full of 
Him — "immanent" the modern philosophic word is. 
The old expression told it of the universe, " Heaven and 
earth are full of Thy glory." "If I climb up to Heaven 
Thou art there, if I go down to Hell Thou art there also ; 
if I take the wings of the morning and remain in the 
uttermost parts of the sea, even there also Thy hand 
9 



130 UNION COLLEGE. 

shall lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me." And, 
for the Church, which is in the world, the Master's 
promise fills it with His presence, instant, immediate, in- 
tense, universal : " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world." And in this great House in which 
He is, there are these various vessels (oxsotj). It is a word 
used constantly in the New Testament Scriptures to de- 
scribe sometimes men, and, sometimes, the bodies of men ; 
and it is used here .in its larger sense, the whole man. 
What are we set to learn here, every man of us, about 
our place and portion, in this great House of God, the 
World ? Three things — Diversity of character ; distinc- 
tion of use; devotion of service; and, after these, an 
indiscriminate usefulness and honour to each in his own 
place. 

Diversity of character; "gold and silver and wood and 
earth." Oh, what a wealth of wisdom, and what a world 
of truth are here. Half the wretchedness and unrest of 
life would be done quite away with by the acceptance 
of this first thought. It is not easy always to accept, or 
pleasant to believe. But the vain strifes of vaulting am- 
bition, the senseless swellings after unattainable ends, the 
feeble apings and imitations of other people whom we 
can never resemble, and the wretched failures of so many 
lives, might all be avoided if only men would learn this 
truth, that they are made of various stuffs and different 
materials ; some rare and rich, some poor and homely. 
And life could not be, without these various and differing 
vessels to carry on its work. It is easy for some impa- 
tient, discontented individual to fault the Maker and the 
Master that, being clay, he was not gold, or, being wood, 
he was not silver. But the discontent comes from wish- 
ing to be something other than he is. And the content 
would be if each would realize three things, the infinite 
wisdom of his Maker; the responsibility of life relative to 
the capacity of the liver ; and the need of just such ser- 



BACCALAUEEATE SEEMON. 131 

vice as each can render to accomplish all Grod's will. It 
seems to me that just here lie the use and value of your 
training time ; to have found out the stuff you are made 
of. It is idle folly to imagine that only common things 
can be made out of common stuffs. That cheapest and 
commonest of all materials, earth, in the hands of Palissy 
the potter, made vessels of beauty that equal Cellini's 
work in gold; and the Sacrament-Haus, in the Dom- 
kirche at Nuremberg, with its top tendril bent over lest 
it should strike the roof, is rival to the rarest Venetian 
filigree of silver. Learn, and lay well to heart, the equal 
value, for their own peculiar uses, of all created sub- 
stances. It is this longing after the unattainable that 
wastes life out with fevers of discontent. 

To make the most of one's own self, and not to be 
some one else, should be the intelligent desire of every 
sensible man. And to be excellent in anything, to make 
good machinery, to plant a garden well or sow a field, to 
breed good horses or to manufacture honest goods, is to 
fill out one's place in life as really and as valuably as 
to be poet, practitioner of law or medicine, inventor, 
statesman, editor, philosopher, or priest. 

And the next lesson is of distinction of use. There is 
a vulgarity in the misinterpretation of these words, which 
is well-nigh insufferable. There is no intimation here 
that "some to honour and some to dishonour" means 
that gold and silver vessels are for honourable things, and 
wooden and earthen vessels for dishonourable things. The 
honour or dishonour lies, not in the material of which the 
vessel is made. There is no commonest thing which is 
not " to honour," if it be honourably used. And there is 
no such depth of dishonour conceivable as the degrada- 
tion, to base uses, of the finer, rarer vessels of silver and 
gold. 

How I wish I could press this home. I take it, and 
you take it, that the man of intellectual ability, of spiri- 



132 UNION COLLEGE. 

tual power, is the most precious vessel of all. Is lie 
therefore, by the mere possession of these gifts, a "vessel 
unto honour " 1 And I say a thousand times, No ! To 
prostitute intellect till it ministers only to the dissemina- 
tion of doubts and the denial of Q-od ; or to pervert the 
subtle influence of spiritual power till it panders to pas- 
sion or sin, dishonours the noblest vessel in the great 
House of God. The other lesson, the honourable ness of 
commonest things, is taught us at every turn. There is 
the slow, dull boy, most ordinary in capacity, whose plod- 
ding patience, dully persisting in the pursuit of problems 
caught in an instant by the superficial facileness of a 
quicker brain, has seized, and holds what he has gained, 
with a grasp of retentiveness, which makes him really a 
scholar ; where the other has only a half -forgotten smat- 
tering of memorized words. And everywhere in life 
to-day there are the steady, useful, trustworthy men, not 
smart enough to run the risks and take the ventures 
which land their quicker fellows in degradation and dis- 
honesty ; the men whose speech is slow, but whose word 
is as good as their bond, on whom men lean for counsel 
in doubtful times, and for confidence in days of disaster 
— " vessels of wood and earth " to honour. 

And the next lesson is of devotion of service — " sanc- 
tified and meet for the Master's use." Life lies open and 
out before you from to-day. There is no choice of what 
is called independence, because that means, really, selfish- 
ness and self-will. In the veritable mesh and network of 
life, the relation of men to one another is so close and 
vital that no man liveth or dieth to himself. Robinson 
Crusoe, even, had his man Friday. And as there is of 
necessity interdependence among men, so there must be 
dependence upon some stronger power and higher will. 
Offero, till he becomes Christopher, will be the servant of 
Satan. The choice is not whether, but " whom will ye 
serve." It is a choice that cannot be made too soon. 



BACCALAUEEATE SEKMON. 133 

" Choose ye this day whom ye will serve." You know 
that the other side of man's choice is God's call. You know 
that God's call is your " calling," your vocation, your place 
and lot of work in life. And you will have to learn that 
that call comes in various ways, and to very varying oc- 
cupations. It will be largely influenced by your capacity, 
" gold, silver, wood, earth." For God never puts the ves- 
sels in His House to any unsuitable use. 

And while I would fain believe that some of you, at 
least, may have, and hear, and heed the call to the sacred 
ministry, I beg you to realize that this is not the only 
meaning of " the Master's use." For He has use for, and 
need of, men who shall serve Him in every walk and way 
of life. What is meant is that every man shall so do his 
work, in whatever state of life God calls him to work in, 
from time to time, as to be serving his Master in that 
work. Look out to-day upon the world. You are the 
young men of the coming generation of Americans, to be 
citizens, to hold public office, to guide public opinion, to 
minister public or private trusts, to be the bankers, the 
tradesmen, the lawyers, the physicians, the clergymen, the 
manufacturers, the law-makers, the politicians of the time. 
You are to fill these places, and to act out these parts, 
so that the Master can use you for His great ends. 

The rottenness in public life and private affairs, which 
shocks us and threatens us to-day, is due to the common 
f orgetfulness of this fundamental truth ; and there is 
danger that it will spread till it corrupt the body politic. 
There seems no watchfulness sharp enough in trustees 
and directors to detect the step-by-step stealing (called by 
a euphemism borrowing), whose end is dishonesty and 
dishonour ; and often after these, the disgraceful escape of 
consequences, by the contemptible cowardice of suicide. 
And the reason is not far to find. The clerk or the cash- 
ier is imitating his directors or trustees. Eaten up with 
the sin of covetousness, they are committing the crime — 
9* 



134 UNION COLLEGE. 

which gambling is — of money-making by the effort, 
through reckless risks, to get something with no equivalent 
given. I have no stone to cast against the great body of 
the brokers of the world. There are illustrious examples, 
I know, among them of fidelity to obligations unwritten 
and unsigned, which all of us might learn to imitate. 
There are among them men who, within our recent recol- 
lection, have saved the credit of the country from disaster 
and disgrace. The essential element in commerce, of 
buying low to sell at an advance, if it be right in land 
and sugar, cannot be wrong in stocks and bonds. But 
the lawless and illegitimate business which skulks behind 
slang names in " the Street," of buying anything with 
nothing, of promises without the means to pay, of rising 
to success on another's wreck or ruin, wrought out " with 
weapons " that are not even carnal, but brutal, the tossing 
of sharp horns, the crushing with cruel claws ; these are 
among the crying crimes of capital to-day. The rich 
master wins his millions, and whets the appetite of his 
poor clerk to make his smaller, sinful ventures; or he 
loses his millions, makes good the loss, and does not mind 
it. But the weak follower has no resource behind. The 
venture fails. His little fortune is wrecked, and then the 
sequel follows, in fast succeeding steps ; false entries, de- 
tection, flight, a skulking life, an ignominious death. And 
the chief blame rests on the protected and undetected 
sinner who led him astray. There is no cure for this but 
in the consciousness that every vessel must be sanctified, 
purged from all these evil lusts, meet for the Master's use, 
and living as though used by Him, for the high ends of 
honesty and honour, and faithfulness to trust. 

Turn from this, up or down, as you may think it, into 
the political field, which has great attractiveness in a 
country like ours, where the rewards of highest place 
have been won, and can be, from the lowest start. We 
have high-sounding sentences like " public office is a pub- 






BACCALAUEEATE SEBMON. 135 

lie trust." We have great schemes of civil service and 
reform. But very few live up to the sentences, or are 
governed by the schemes. The temptations are great ; to 
be popular, to influence votes, to manage men, to con- 
trol great measures, to advance one's own interest, to get 
the patronage of great corporations, to have the power of 
much patronage to distribute, to stand well with the party 
for party ends and gains ; all these, this side of the coarse, 
vulgar, criminal, traceable taking of a money bribe, seduce 
the public man from the strict integrity of his service. 
He has forgotten the Master for whose service he is set 
apart, to lift society, to advance the State, to get good 
government, to use the public money with a liberal econ- 
omy, to have clean streets, good roads, pure water; to 
give employment with honest wages to the men who la- 
bour with their hands ; to prevent vice, to manage, gen- 
erously and wisely, public charities, to raise the standards 
of education. 

There are no human panaceas, I know, to cure the po- 
litical corruption which so runs riot in our State as to 
recall the sickening senility of the decayed governments 
of the older world. But this consciousness of responsi- 
bility to God, of service to the Divine Master, of being 
here in this world to be used by Him and for His great 
and gracious ends, has made the patriots and statesmen 
of the Hebrew people, of the Gentile nations, of all ages 
and races of men ; made Moses the Law-giver, and Daniel 
the Ruler, and Aristides the Just, and Alfred the Great, and 
Louis the King, and William the Emperor, and Washing- 
ton the President, and Lincoln the Liberator. And it has 
power now to-day to convert our politicians into states- 
men, and to make each one of you a vessel of use and 
honour. 

And here discrimination ends. Diversity of character 
and distinction of use are inherent and essential elements 
of service and of life. There must be differences in the 



136 UNION COLLEGE. 

natures and temperaments of men to make a world ; as 
there mast be in the materials of which the world is 
made. For men cannot clothe themselves with wood, nor 
bnild their houses with spun silk, nor plow their fields 
with gold, nor clear their forests with axes of silver. And 
for the parts we have to play in life there must be the 
men of muscle and the men of nerve, the men of thought 
and the men of action, the poet and the man of affairs, 
the student and the soldier, the dreamer and the doer, the 
inventor and the mechanic, the maker and the spender of 
wealth. 

And the complement of all this is distribution of use ; 
" propria quas singulis" we might read the old proverb. 
Because for the different uses which the Master has for 
men, He must have different sorts of men. Because the 
Master has made the vessels of His great House of differ- 
ent stuffs, He must have, for each, His appropriate use. 

And the lesson of success in life is simply the learning 
of fitness. What am I suited to do ? It is a long, deep 
subject, this, with many sides. Aimlessness ends in use- 
lessness. The Chinese-shoe idea, of a father forcing his 
son against all inclinations and all indications, ends in 
wretchedness and failure. The wilful struggle against 
surrounding suggestions of circumstance and opportunity 
breaks the bird's wing against the cage bars, and the 
man's heart against the barriers of impossibility. The 
ivill-less surrender of easy-going indolence to difficulties 
which were meant to stimulate to effort, cumbers the 
world with what we call tramps when they are dirty, and 
gentlemen of elegant leisure when the linen is clean. It 
is not easy, always, to find one's use. It is found not sel- 
dom after much experience and many mistakes. And no 
one man can tell it absolutely for another. But, honestly 
sought for, it will be certainly found. 

And here, I say again, discrimination ends. For useful- 
ness and for honour, for the use the Master will make of 



BACCALAUREATE SERMON. 137 

us, and for the honour He will give us, there is abso- 
lutely no difference between gold and wood, between sil- 
ver and earth ; and no distinction between the positions 
that rank highest in the world's eye, and the places which 
are so lowly that the world does not see them at all, 
since for every faithful servant, whose work is well done, 
there is waiting " the joy of His Lord " ; the joy that was 
in the heart of the Master, when, from the sublime height 
of the Cross, He looked back upon the pathway of His 
earthly life, and saw, step by step, and detail after detail, 
the will of G-od for Him, finished and fulfilled ; this, and 
besides this, the joy, into which He entered, of the Son 
" in Whom the Father is well pleased." 

Brothers and friends, old and new sons of this old 
mother, rejoicing to-day in her children as her jewels ; I 
have come heartily to render this small service as a debt 
of love to Union University. Fifty years ago I came here 
as a boy with my beloved father, to keep the semi-centen- 
nial of this college. It was a day of strong impressions 
to me, a boy of twelve. The venerable president, upon 
whose heart was written the name of Union ; the Bishop 
of Pennsylvania who gave one son to the presidency and 
another to be the Bishop of New York ; and my father, 
the Bishop of New Jersey ; these men rise up before me. 
And they are noble illustrations of the lesson I have tried 
to leave with you to-night ; " vessels of honour," every 
one. I go behind that day with its rich memories, to 
recall the earlier years of my father's student life here 
when with a love of study and a thirst for knowledge 
which overleaped the barriers of restricted means he 
worked with his might till he attained his end, an educa- 
tion which should fit him " for the Master's use," and be- 
fore and after these, are the great names and many, " of 
whom the time would fail me to tell," on our alumni 
honour roll. 

As I stand here to-night recalling the past with its il- 



138 UNION COLLEGE. 

lustrious instances, and rejoicing in the present, which 
has put my old friend and fellow-citizen of Albany into 
the high place of service here which he is preeminently 
fitted to fill, I look with the fearless eye of hope toward 
the future of this University. One of the many institu- 
tions of the higher learning in this great State, it has its 
own sphere of service, its own especial possibilities of 
usefulness. I remember well my father's words that 
June day fifty years ago, when, speaking of our Colleges, 
he quoted the old lines : " Facies non omnibus una nee 
diversa tamen, qualem decet esse sororum." * 

Yes, they are sisters, all these fair mothers of the intel- 
lectual, moral, spiritual children whom they bear and 
train : Columbia, Union, Hobart, Cornell, Williams, St. 
Stephen's, Syracuse, Hamilton, and the rest. They are 
vessels in the Master's House, different in character and 
distinct in use, but " vessels unto honour." For our Uni- 
versity here, — if I may so call Old Union as naturally the 
institution of the capital city of this State, and as a kind 
stepmother to me, her unworthy "alumnus causa honoris," 
— our University has its own peculiar place and power in 
the purposes of Grod. You will not fault me if I avow 
that, naturally, my chiefest interest as a churchman 
centers in our Church Colleges — Columbia, Hobart, St. 
Stephen's ; because I believe firmly that a perfect educa- 
tion demands training in the Christian religion, and that 
a perfect training in the Christian religion demands defi- 
nite teaching of the faith. 

But my deep interest in education breaks down all 
narrowing limitations and recognizes the learning and 
the teaching, the larger appliances for scholarly work 

1 He translated tliem that day : 

They seem not one, 

Nor yet as two, 
But look alike, 
As sisters do. 



BACCALAUREATE SEEMON. 139 

wherever they are, the great things that are behind Old 
Union, and the great things that are before her, too. 
Tied, I am glad to say, with a bond that is more than 
telephonic, to my own old town of Albany, by the fact 
that the Medical and Law departments of the University, 
the College of Pharmacy, and the Dudley Observatory 
are there, and with a possibility of even nearer and closer 
contact with the Capital City which more and more is 
tending to be the home of thought and study, Union 
University is the University of Albany ; and Albany is 
the capital and center of the Empire State. 

Our watchword to-night is "Concordia" — together- 
heartedness, that means — the union of Alumni and 
Undergraduates in a liberal love of their Alma Mater; 
the union of Trustees and Faculty under the brave lead- 
ership of the President, in a large conception of future 
work; the union of the Public Schools with the High 
Schools and Academies, and of the High Schools and 
Academies, in this broad section of New York, with this 
University, so that they shall feed her, and she shall 
foster them ; the union of all the Colleges and Universi- 
ties of the Empire State; the union of the educational 
interests of New York; the union of all lovers of that com- 
bination of piety and patriotism for which this institution 
stands, the live Union of diversity in unity, "non omnibus 
una," "e pluribus unum;" and She, the mother of such 
noble sons and "bringing forth more fruit in her age"; 
She, in position and in purpose, in nature and in name, 
the point and pivot of that union in which there is 
strength. 

God grant the consummation, and hasten it in His time. 
God guide and guard you, my young friends and make 
you "vessels unto honour." God bless Old Union. 



EDUCATORS' DAY. 



The morning and the afternoon Sessions of the Conference were held 
in the College Chapel, the evening Session in the First Presbyterian 
Church. 



<£bucational Conference. 

MOKNING SESSION. 

SUBJECT : THE SECONDARY SCHOOL. 

Hon. Melvil Dewey, Secretary of the University of 
the State of New York, presiding. 

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS 

BY MR. DEWEY. 

IT was my experience as a boy, some thirty years ago, 
to come uuder teachers from Union College oftener, 
perhaps, than under teachers from any other half-dozen 
institutions. The three teachers in the schools I at- 
tended that made the strongest impression on me were 
all graduates of the old college at Schenectady, and the 
result of my experience was that, as I approached the time 
for my college course, I found myself possessed with a 
strong feeling that it was a great thing to go to col- 
lege, but to go to Union was a much greater. Union 
stood out in our imagination far beyond the ordinary 
college, because of the men we had seen her send out. 
It chances, too, that the best day of all the year to me is 



144 UNION COLLEGE. 

the anniversary of the organization of Union, and the 
election of her first president — for on that day I was 
married. 

When I became connected with the Regents, I naturally 
felt a warm interest in Union College, not only because 
she was the eldest born of those institutions which have 
received charters from the Regents, but also because of 
the things for which Union has stood ; and the true test 
of that is the reception accorded her innovations by the 
educational world. Union was preeminently a pioneer 
in certain directions. She was a non-sectarian institu- 
tion. When, a hundred years ago, Union's charter was 
sent out from the Regents' office, soon after the most 
famous of my predecessors, DeWitt Clinton, had assumed 
office as Secretary, nearly all colleges were sectarian. 
Now, as I look over the list, I find less than one tenth 
willing to report themselves as sectarian. Thus the ex- 
ample of undenominationalism set by Union a century 
ago has been largely followed. The principle has grown 
stronger and stronger, and to-day the strongest higher 
educational institutions are non-sectarian. 

Then, Union stood for a greater liberality in its range 
of studies. It was a pioneer in introducing modern lan- 
guages and scientific studies into the college curriculum. 
It set the example of greater flexibility with less of the 
procrustean in college courses. 

Union was also a pioneer in trusting students — put- 
ting them on their honor as to their personal conduct. 
We of Amherst are very proud of the Amherst system ; 
but I find that, under President Nott, Union had laid the 
foundation of a great deal of that trust in students' honor 
which has since his day so widely spread throughout the 
country. 

So I come to Union this morning with a peculiar in- 
terest in this centennial, and our topic of " The School " 
leads me to say what I believe in my heart of the second- 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 145 

ary school. England, forced to a profound conviction 
of its superlative importance, has been engaged this 
last year in reorganizing her secondary-school system. 
France, since the Franco-Prussian war, has marvelously 
developed her secondary schools, as well as her schools of 
higher education. The French used to think that they 
as a nation needed to pay only for primary education ; 
but they learned a grievous lesson at the time of the 
Prussian war, and since then their appropriations have 
grown fivefold for secondary education — fivefold in 
twenty-five years. The gain to the country through this 
greater devotion to advanced education has more than 
offset the physical losses of the Franco-Prussian war. 
The truth was aptly put by that famous Frenchman, 
Eenan. When some one said that it was the German 
needle-gun that cost France the victory, he said, "No; it 
was not the G-erman needle-gun, nor the German soldier 
that held the needle-gun ; nor was it the German school- 
master that made the German soldier; but it was the 
German University that made the German schoolmaster." 
France learned that lesson, and it teaches us that we 
cannot have a thorough and satisfactory system of ele- 
mentary schools till we first have a system of secondary 
schools to fit teachers for the elementary work. 

It is part of the stock in trade of superficial writers in 
the public press to clamor that public funds ought to be 
confined to the elementary schools; that it is unjust to 
take the taxpayers' money to support high schools, as is 
done all over the country. Such people forget the pecu- 
liar character and nature of education. They take no 
account of what might be called its "diffusive" qualities. 
Their criticism would have force, if it were true that 
secondary education benefited only the recipient. But 
that is no more true than that the man who builds a 
lighthouse on a rocky coast to light his own fishing- 
smack safely to harbor can exclude its benefit from all 
10 



146 UNION COLLEGE. 

but his own little craft. It is no more true than that the 
man who builds a beautiful roadway beside his own resi- 
dence builds only for himself ; every passer shares the 
benefit. It is no more true than that he who drains a 
pestilential swamp, and turns the wet jungle into a 
blooming field, can keep the whole gain for himself. The 
health of the whole community must be impi'oved by his 
labor. So the fallacy of the criticism of these many well- 
meaning people lies in the fact that they overlook the 
diffusive nature of education, and that the secondary 
school in training its students is raising the standard of 
intelligence of the whole community. 

I ran across a case the other day which illustrates this. 
The head of a great manufacturing firm said : " We have 
all the work we can do in our own factory. We get all 
our workmen, if possible, from Worcester, Massachusetts." 
The question was asked, "Why?" The reply was, "Be- 
cause the Worcester Public Library, supported by taxa- 
tion, has one of the best collections in this country of 
books pertaining to our work ; and the presence of this 
library with its fund of information produces a class of 
people who are the best for our business." That gives a 
tangible illustration of a substantial return from an in- 
vestment in material from which intelligence is made. 
Which one of us to-day, in looking for a home to which 
he might bring his children for their proper education, 
would hesitate a moment to pay the higher price of living 
in a community having a good secondary school. 

In many cities, taking the value of lot and building, 
and the various expenses connected with the support of 
the high school, we have the equivalent of an endowment 
of not less than a million dollars. A few years ago that 
would have been thought a princely endowment for a 
university, yet the cities of the country are maintaining 
these schools ; and if you were to put it to the vote of the 
community, you would have an overwhelming majority 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS. 147 

in favor of continuing this munificent support at public 
expense. 

The year 1895 has been marked by important legisla- 
tion to the advantage of the high schools of this State. 
First was the law providing for an academic fund that 
should hereafter be increased each year with the growth 
of the schools. Heretofore we have been under a law 
dating back half a century, which provided a fixed and 
unchanging sum, so that when the number of schools 
increased, the divisor became constantly larger and the 
quotient constantly smaller. As the number of students 
in those schools increased, the amount received for each 
grew less. So far as State encouragement was concerned, 
it was a financial misfortune to any school to have the 
number of schools or of its own pupils increase. 

A second clause of the law provides that every school 
registered as of academic grade should also receive an- 
nually one hundred dollars, and also one cent for each 
day's attendance of each academic student. This action 
of the legislature was doubly significant because it fol- 
lowed an agitation in this State from that little remnant 
of people who still antagonize public taxation for support 
of high schools. 

Still more significant, educationally, is the beginning of 
a new system under which the Court of Appeals will, at 
an early day, require every candidate for the legal pro- 
fession to have at least a full high-school education. 
They have raised the standard now three times, and with 
the last increase of requirements, say that probably the 
next step will be to require, within the next two or three 
years, a four-year high-school course, or its full equiva- 
lent. The legislature this year also established a graded 
increase in the requirements for the study of medicine, 
so that the classes matriculating after 1897 must be made 
up solely of candidates having a full high-school course, 
without which they will not be allowed to pursue their 



148 UNION COLLEGE. 

medical studies. Next came the movement for raising 
the standard of education for admission to the practice 
of dentistry, sustained by the State Deutal Society, com- 
posed of the best dentists in the State, who secured the 
same requirements as for the study of medicine. The 
dentists were closely followed by the State Veterinary 
Society, who secured a law providing that no man or 
woman shall be admitted to practice in this State, after 
the class entering in 1897, who has not laid the founda- 
tion for his profession in a full high-school course. Fi- 
nally came the law reaching the common-school teachers 
in cities, requiring that, in 1897, again, teachers must be 
graduates of normal schools, or in lieu thereof must have 
had a full high-school course supplemented by thirty- 
eight weeks in a training-school, or normal-school tech- 
nical instruction. 

In law, medicine, dentistry, veterinary surgery, and 
public-school teaching, then, this year has marked the 
setting of the high-school course as the minimum educa- 
tional requirement for admission to these professions, 
and one of the most eminent and clear-minded theological 
seminary presidents recently sent in a request to the Re- 
gents that a similar rule should be made for theological 
students. This was one of the things we had been shy 
of suggesting, but had been hoping and waiting for from 
the side of the seminary. All these movements have 
come from the professions themselves. The call has al- 
ready come from theology, and there is a growing feeling 
that the Civil Service of the State should require at least 
a high-school training as a condition of candidacy there- 
for. We are going to learn the lesson that they have 
learned in Europe, that if it is worth the twenty million 
dollars that it costs each year to support the educational 
system of the State, then the State is entitled to the bene- 
fit arising from having the product of the high school and 
academy in its professions and its public departments. 



INTKODUCTOEY ADDKESS. 149 

See what this new law means to the secondary school ! 
Hereafter, if your boys and girls hope, either soon or 
late, to go into either of these professions, they must 
complete the high-school course. This will be a powerful 
incentive to them to remain in school and round out 
their education instead of dropping out after the first, 
second, or third year, as has been so common. The State 
gives a still greater pecuniary support to the schools, and 
also this encouragement in the form of statute that ad- 
mission to practice in these scholarly professions must 
depend on the candidate's having prepared himself by a 
general education at least equivalent to a high-school 
course. This advance has gone hand in hand with in- 
creased technical requirements in professional schools. 

As we take up the discussion of the school, to be 
opened by a man known throughout the length and 
breadth of the land, pray bear in mind that this is an 
educational conference, and that we are to have a face-to- 
face discussion of the points brought out by the speaker. 

I take pleasure in introducing for the first paper this 
morning a man whose work in elementary as well as sec- 
ondary education is known throughout this country and 
abroad, and who is recognized as a leader wherever the 
work of the Committee of Fifteen is known. We are all 
proud that that man, who did more than any one else in 
this cause, was of our own State, — Mr. William H. Max- 
well, Superintendent of Schools in Brooklyn. 



10* 



ADDRESS 

BY WILLIAM H. MAXWELL, 

Supt. of Public Instruction, Brooklyn, N. T. 

THE STUDIES OF THE SECONDAEY SCHOOL. 

IT is not without good reason that, in celebrating the 
hundredth anniversary of the foundation of Union 
College, the work of the school should receive due atten- 
tion in the exercises. The hundred years that have 
elapsed since the acorn was planted which has grown into 
the stately oak that shelters us to-day have witnessed 
many changes in education — changes that have affected 
the school even more than they have affected the college. 
These hundred years have seen the Grerman system of 
education — the most complete the world has ever known 
— developed from the kindergarten to the university. 
They have seen — nay, we ourselves have seen — within 
the past few years education in England become the right 
of all instead of the privilege of a few. They have seen 
universal popular education established in every British 
colony. They have seen France, rent asunder by the un- 
clean spirits she has cast out, at last clothed and in her 
light mind, and become in many respects a model to the 
world in the education of her children. And they have 
seen the great public-school system of America struggling 
up from its small beginnings in the Dutch colonies in New 
York and the Puritan settlements in New England, until 



ADDEBSS. 151 

it lias become the chief means of enlightenment for the 
masses of the people, an incalculable force that makes for 
righteousness. The century that is drawing to a close 
will stand in history for many great and beneficent move- 
ments, but for none more than for the spread of popular 
education. 

When we come to analyze this wonderful movement of 
the century, we find certain strongly marked features 
which cannot be mistaken, and which must be thoroughly 
understood if we are to plan wisely for the development 
of education in the future. 

In the first place, this movement for popular education 
is not confined to any one country; it is a world-move- 
ment. Universal education is not confined to America ; 
it is not confined to Germany. It has recently become 
the law in England and the law in France. Its beneficent 
influence is felt in poor oppressed Ireland, and is making 
New Zealand a model commonwealth. It is making its 
way slowly, but surely, in Italy. Signs are not wanting 
that it is making headway in Russia. And it has enabled 
Japan to conquer her more powerful and more populous 
neighbor, who has used popular education not to develop 
the latent powers of individuals, but to preserve the tra- 
ditions of semi-barbarism. Popular education, as a 
world-movement, is part of a still larger movement — the 
democratic movement by which political power has been 
transferred from the few to the many. Without popular 
education as ballast, the ship of state will inevitably be 
wrecked on the rocks of anarchy. 

But while popular education is a world- movement, it 
is a movement that has acquired a peculiar strength and 
a peculiar character in America, We have taken part — 
in many respects we have led the way — in the onward 
educational movement ; but it has been in a manner pe- 
culiarly our own. In other countries, popular education 
has progressed along lines laid down by the central gov- 



152 UNION COLLEGE. 

ernment, which regulates the schools of the people down 
even to the smallest details. In this country, on the other 
hand, the central government takes no direct part in edu- 
cational work, except in the education of its Indian wards. 
It is true that it has always evinced the liveliest interest 
in popular education, not only by collecting and pub- 
lishing, through its Bureau of Education, facts and sta- 
tistics that would be otherwise inaccessible, but by mak- 
ing enormous grants of land for the support of schools 
and colleges. The care of popular education, however, 
has been reserved for the State governments. These, in 
turn, have, as a rule, contented themselves with passing 
general laws, and have left the management of details to 
local authorities. This fact — the regulation of popular 
education by local authorities — I take to be the most 
characteristic feature of popular education in America. 
Educational theorists, who admire the symmetrical and 
easy-running machinery of the German and French edu- 
cational systems, upbraid us with what they are pleased 
to call the lack of system in America. They point to the 
undoubted facts that New York has one system — if sys- 
tem it can be called ; that Massachusetts has another ; 
Michigan, another; and so on throughout the list of our 
commonwealths. They tell us that our public schools 
vary extremely in degrees of efficiency, that only in some 
places are they managed by educational experts, and that 
in many they are injuriously affected by the baleful in- 
fluences of party politics. But when all has been said 
that can be said with truth in criticism of our public 
schools, the great facts remain that American public 
schools are the people's schools, that the people pay for 
them, that the people have developed them, that the 
schools have very largely molded the character of the 
people, and that so long as the schools remain under 
the care of the people, government for the people and by 
the people shall never perish from the earth. We may 



ADDEESS. 153 

best perceive the advantages of our peculiar way of local 
school management by considering the effects on a large 
population of the opposite policy — the policy of centrali- 
zation. From time immemorial, at least for her male 
population, China has had universal education, and has 
imparted to this education an enormous value in the 
eyes of her people by making it, through competitive ex- 
amination, the exclusive door of entrance to all offices of 
power and emolument in the Empire. But the autocratic 
Chinese government permits only one thing to be taught 
in the Chinese schools — the nine classics that embody 
the ancient traditions of the race ; and only one faculty 
of the mind to be cultivated — the memory. The result 
is that local self-government does not exist, that the peo- 
ple, trained only in traditional forms of acting and think- 
ing, perpetuate the customs of the ages, and have lost the 
power to develop individuality of character and to initi- 
ate new forms of civilization. The Chinese system is the 
extreme on one side. On the other side, the American 
plan shows the contrary extreme. The American plan 
has fostered freedom. It has cultivated local self-gov- 
ernment. It has developed individuality. It has en- 
abled our people to subdue a continent to the uses of the 
most advanced civilization. It has raised up not one 
center of thought and influence that dominates the whole 
nation, as Paris has dominated France, but a thousand 
centers whence radiate the influences of intelligence. 
The evolution of education in America has not been, and 
is not now, without its own peculiar dangers ; but its 
advantages far more than compensate for its disadvan- 
tages. It has made American life strong with the spirit 
that breathes in the noble words of Martin Luther : 

Know you not that the wind of freedom is blowing? 

In the next place, the century has witnessed the trans- 
fer, in very large measure, of the control of education 



154 UNION COLLEGE. 

from the eh arch and ecclesiastics to secular authorities 
and educational experts. The first schools and colleges 
established in this country were dominated by ecclesi- 
astical authority. In this movement — a movement that 
is inevitable among a free people — Union College has 
been a pioneer. Though twenty-one colleges were 
founded in America before Union, yet Union was the 
first in the United States that was not confessedly de- 
nominational in its character. As its name implies, its 
founders wisely determined that it should offer equal 
advantages to young men of all religious denominations 
and give preferences to none. Many of our older insti- 
tutions, founded expressly in the interest of a sect, such 
as Harvard and Columbia, have cast aside denominational 
fetters, and work now only for the common good, for the 
interests of all and not for the interests of a few. 

This movement away from ecclesiastical control is also 
a movement away from private control of any kind and 
toward public support and public control. In our own 
State, nearly every college and university has at some 
time or other benefited by the munificence of the State, 
and all are more or less subject to the regulations of the 
Regents of the University. 

In many of the Western States, of which Michigan 
may be taken as the type, education from the kinder- 
garten to the university is now chiefly in the hands 
of the State. But it is in the elementary and secon- 
dary schools that this movement is most conspicuous. 
According to Commissioner Harris's last report, out 
of every 100 pupils in the elementary grade, — by the 
"elementary grade" I mean the first eight years of 
school work, — out of every 100 pupils in the elemen- 
tary grade, 91.54 pupils are in public schools and 
only 8.46 pupils are in private schools. In secondary 
schools (schools that cover the work from the ninth to 
the twelfth years inclusive), 38.41 per cent, of the pu- 



ADDKESS. 155 

pils are in private schools, while 61.59 per cent, are in 
public schools. But while this movement away from 
ecclesiastical and private, and toward public, support and 
control has been a most beneficent one, in that it has se- 
cured through governmental aid what could never have 
been accomplished by private enterprise, in that it has 
made universal education possible, and in that it has 
freed the schools from the shackles of denominationalism, 
yet I for one sincerely hope that the day is far distant 
when all schools will be public schools. The private 
school has a great mission to perform. In the private 
school must be tried those educational experiments 
to which public officers would not be justified in applying 
the public moneys. The private school, in order to live 
against the competition of the public school, must be a 
good school, and this friendly rivalry is often productive 
of most beneficial results. Moreover, there is always a 
class of children who will develop only under individual 
training. For these the private school — often the private 
boarding-school — is the best school. If a parent is un- 
fortunate in his child, or if a child is unfortunate in his 
parent, the private boarding-school is the best solution of 
the difficulty. Thus, while the tide has set strongly to- 
ward the public school, — very strongly in the case of the 
secondary school, and almost overwhelmingly in the case 
of the elementary school, — the best private schools re- 
main to do their special work ; and it is for the best in- 
terests of the public schools that, as long as private 
schools do their work well, they should remain to par- 
ticipate in the great battle against ignorance and vice. 

The next great educational movement of the century 
has been toward a reform of the school curriculum. A 
hundred years ago but little thought had been given in 
English-speaking countries to the work of the elementary 
school. A hundred years before the founding of Union, 
Comenius had bequeathed to the world the foundations 



156 UNION COLLEGE. 

of a science of education. Fifty years before, Rousseau 
had swept away, as far as eloquence and argument could 
sweep them away, the baleful traditions of education, 
and let the clear light of day shine into the darkened 
corners of the school-house. During the first few years 
of the existence of this college, Pestalozzi was showing 
by his practice that if we are to educate at all, we must 
appeal to the senses as well as to the memory — we must 
educate all the powers of the child; and Froebel was 
working out that glorious scheme for education by self- 
activity which we must needs consider one of the most 
beneficent gifts ever made by an y human being to suf- 
fering humanity — the kindergarten. Yet, at that date, 
neither the philosophies of Comenius and Rousseau, nor 
the practices of Pestalozzi and Froebel, had penetrated 
to the schools of England and America. The elementary 
school was neglected. It taught little but the three R's, 
and taught that little badly. The secondary school — 
the academy, as it was and often still is called — aimed to 
do no more than meet the requirements of the college — 
a little Latin, a little Greek, and a little mathematics. 
The ideal was still that of Rugby and Eton — the gram- 
mar-schools of England — and the grammar-schools of 
England had scarcely advanced from the position they 
took in the days of the Renaissance. One of the first 
indications that there was a possibility of improving on 
the traditional curriculum is to be found in a letter 
written in 1803 by a young clergyman of Albany, out- 
lining a plan for a city academy. The young clergyman 
was the Reverend Eliphalet Nott, who was afterward for 
sixty-two years the honored president of Union. " I 
would now inform you," wrote Dr. Nott, " that I propose 
to have my academy embrace a complete system of edu- 
cation, and furnish to pupils the means of pursuing a 
regular course of study, from the first rudiments of Eng- 
lish reading to the last finish of classical culture. 



ADDKESS. 157 

"The better to accomplish these objects, I propose 
to have it divided into at least four different depart- 
ments : 

" One of elocution, including whatever relates to ac- 
curate spelling, correct reading, and graceful and proper 
delivery ; one of penmanship, including, besides instruc- 
tion in the modes of forming and joining letters as 
a study distinct from the practical art, bookkeeping, 
letter-writing, mapping, and stenography; one of mathe- 
matics, philosophy, astronomy ; and one for the learning 
of languages." He further advocated the adoption of the 
departmental system of teaching in academies, and the 
establishment of primary schools to teach the rudiments 
and serve as feeders to the academy. 

In all this, Dr. Nott showed himself a man of original 
ideas as well as of sound common sense. How far he 
was in advance of the prevailing American thought on 
school education in the opening years of the present 
century may be shown by the fact that he himself re- 
garded his scheme as quite Utopian. And yet when we 
compare Dr. Nott's proposed school curriculum, advanced 
as it then appeared, with the curriculum of a city high 
school of the first class of to-day, we cannot fail to be 
struck with the wonderful change — shall I say improve- 
ment ? — in the curriculum of the secondary school during 
the years that have since elapsed. It will be noticed 
that natural science is omitted from Dr. Nott's pro- 
gramme ; that in it the studies of English literature and 
of modern languages, of art and of manual training, find 
no place. But though Dr. Nott did not include in his 
ideal course these subjects that now figure so prominently 
in the school curriculum, he points very clearly to the 
scheme of school organization that has since grown up in 
most of our large cities. His primary schools correspond 
to the elementary schools containing primary and gram- 
mar grades that cover a course of eight years; his 



158 UNION COLLEGE. 

academy corresponds to the high school that provides, in 
most cases, a course of four years. 

This dividing line, at the close of the eighth year in 
school, between the elementary course and the secondary 
course, is largely an artificial line. It is unfortunately 
true that pupils in large numbers leave school before com- 
pleting the eight years' course. At the close of the eighth 
year and afterwards, the desertions from the ranks of the 
scholars are extremely numerous. Hence, early in the 
history of the public-school system, it was found cheaper 
and more effective to gather into one building all the 
pupils of the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth years, 
and give them instruction under the departmental sys- 
tem in subjects supposed to be specially fitted to their 
age and comprehension. This plan, while it has the merit 
of economy and effectiveness in instruction, has been 
accompanied by some striking disadvantages. Not the 
least of these is that the fields of labor of the two classes 
of school — the elementary and the high — have come to 
be regarded in the popular mind as quite distinct, whereas 
there evidently ought to be an organic connection. It is 
not too much to say that in reality the separation, as far 
as aims and methods are concerned, between the gram- 
mar-school and the high school is wider than is the sepa- 
ration between the high school and the college. Up to a 
very recent date the grammar-school has contented itself 
with teaching reading, spelling, writing, geography, Eng- 
lish grammar and composition, history of the United 
States, and a little drawing, with sometimes thrown in, 
as it were, a few desultory object-lessons that could not 
be dignified by the name of science teaching. When the 
pupil left this meager mental pabulum, he was at once 
plunged into the difficulties of algebra and geometry, the 
intricacies of Latin and Greek, and courses in English 
literature, general history, natural science, bookkeeping, 
and sometimes even logic, psychology, and political econ- 



ADDRESS. 159 

omy. To fill up the time in the elementary school, the 
teachers were perforce compelled to teach an endless 
routine of useless detail in grammar and geography, and, 
in order to supply some exercise for the reasoning powers, 
to present conundrums in arithmetic that serve no useful 
purpose except to puzzle youthful brains. In this way 
much valuable time was lost in the grammar-school. 
Pupils were, and are still, in many places compelled not 
only to spend the most plastic years of their lives in 
memorizing dry and useless details, but they were and 
are prevented from studying subjects useful in them- 
selves and of high culture-value. Through stress of cir- 
cumstances they were and are forced to leave school be- 
fore getting an opportunity to participate in the mental 
gymnastic afforded by algebra, geometry, the languages, 
and the sciences. On the other hand, the high school, in 
endeavoring to compass in four years the teaching of 
Latin, Greek, a modern language, general history, Eng- 
lish literature, rhetoric, composition, physical geography, 
botany, zoology, geology, astronomy, algebra, geometry, 
and trigonometry, has made for itself a course so con- 
gested that it is impossible to carry it out with pleasure 
or profit to any but the strongest minds. In the gram- 
mar-school we have had a curriculum meager in culture- 
value but crammed with unnecessary details. In the high 
school the course has been replete with culture, but so 
extensive that its very magnitude, like the overgrown top 
of an unpruned fruit-tree, largely defeated the aims of 
its existence. President Eliot of Harvard deserves the 
thanks of the entire country for calling attention to this 
anomalous condition of affairs. His striking phrase, the 
"shortening and enriching of the grammar-school course," 
is now one of the watchwords of educational reform. 
One of the most striking movements of our time has been 
this enrichment of the grammar-school course, by bring- 
ing down from the high school to the elementary school 



160 UNION COLLEGE. 

subjects that had previously beeu considered, in public- 
school circles at least, exclusively secondary. Several of 
the conferences which reported to the Committee of Ten 
strongly favored the commencement of secondary sub- 
jects in the grammar-school. The report on the correla- 
tion of studies in elementary schools, prepared by Dr. 
Harris for the Committee of Fifteen, also takes advanced 
ground on this side of the question. It recommends that 
Latin, or a modern language, algebra, inventional geome- 
try, natural science, English literature, — to which the 
study of grammar is to be subordinated, — and manual 
training, be taught in the elementary school. 

But even should the curriculum of the elementary 
school be enriched by bringing down from the secondary 
school Latin, algebra, and the other subjects I have 
mentioned, the number of subjects which it is generally 
thought necessary to teach in the high school is still 
so large that it is impossible for any one pupil to com- 
pass all of them within four years. You, gentlemen, 
who spend your days in these calm retreats of delightful 
studies, when you criticize the attainments of the stu- 
dents who knock for admission at your doors, probably 
find it hard to realize the difficulties we who live under 
less favored conditions are forced to meet in the adminis- 
tration of city high schools. Only a small fraction of 
those who attend the high schools proceed to college. 
The vast majority of the students in these schools go 
there, not to prepare for college, but to prepare directly 
for life. For them the classical part of the course re- 
quired for entrance to college has few attractions. They 
want modern languages. They want physical and nat- 
ural science. They want commercial subjects, such as 
bookkeeping and commercial law. They want manual 
training: the girls want sewing and dressmaking and 
millinery and cooking ; the boys want mechanical draw- 
ing and wood- working and metal- working. How are we 



ADDKESS. 161 

to arrange for orderly instruction in this mass of com- 
plex subjects ? 

If we study the history of the high school curriculum, 
we shall find that, in obedience to popular demand, one 
subject after another was added to the traditional curri- 
culum, until the course became so heavy that it was pos- 
sible to give only a few weeks in the year and a very few 
hours each week to each subject. We have had high 
schools that gave ten weeks to botany, ten weeks to as- 
tronomy, ten weeks to zoology, ten weeks to physiology, 
ten weeks to geology, ten weeks to logic, and ten weeks 
to psychology, with the result that their pupils' minds 
became a howling wilderness of stunted growths and 
sessile faculties. Even though this system lingers still 
in many schools, its deathblow was administered by the 
Committee of Ten. That Committee declared that no 
subject should be taught in the secondary school which 
cannot be continued long enough, and for a sufficient 
number of hours per week, to enable the student to get 
out of it whatever of culture-value it contains. The 
enunciation of this doctrine is sufficient to carry con- 
viction. Any school that arranges its course of study 
without regard to this dictum can be regarded only as 
falling far behind the age. 

The first rational attempt to solve this puzzling problem 
of how to teach all the subjects that ought to be taught 
in a high school without overburdening the pupil was 
made in those cities large enough to support two or more 
large high schools. Induced more by reasons of economy 
than by pedagogical considerations, these cities have, in 
many instances, found it convenient to establish, side by 
side with the classical school that prepares for college, the 
English high school that prepares, or is supposed to pre- 
pare, directly for the business of life. Within the past ten 
years, a third school has made its appearance — the man- 
ual-training high school, of which the schools of that 
11 



162 UNION COLLEGE. 

name in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Brooklyn, and the 
Mechanic Arts High School in Boston, are types. In these 
schools the school day is usually divided into six periods. 
Two periods per day are devoted to shop work in woods 
and metals; one period is devoted to mathematics; one 
to physics and chemistry ; one to English ; and one to 
drawing, in preparation for shop work. In cities large 
enough to support different schools of these kinds, the 
pupils that graduate from the eight years' elementary 
course have the right to choose which they will enter. 
In smaller cities, where but one high school is possible, a 
choice is given among several courses. The Kansas City 
High School, for example, has, I believe, eleven different 
courses. 

The choice of courses, however, whether in different 
schools, or in the same school, has proved but a partial 
solution of the problem. The Committee of Ten saw the 
difficulty, and met it with characteristic boldness by prac- 
tically declaring that all the subjects of study in the sec- 
ondary school are of equivalent value both for pedagogi- 
cal purposes and for admission to college. " These sub- 
jects," says the Report, " would all be taught consecutively 
and thoroughly, and would all be carried on in the same 
spirit ; they would all be used for training the powers 
of observation, memory, expression, and reasoning; and 
they would be good to that end, although differing 
among themselves in quality and substance." "A col- 
lege might say," continues the Report, " we will accept 
for admission any group of studies taken from the sec- 
ondary-school programme, provided that the sum of the 
studies in each of the four years amounts to sixteen, or 
eighteen, or twenty periods a week, — as may be thought 
best, — and provided further, that in each year at least 
four of the subjects presented shall have been pursued 
at least three periods a week, and that at least three of 
the subjects shall have been pursued three years or more." 



ADDKESS. 163 

Up to the present time, I think, no college of standing, 
not even Harvard, has followed this advice. Indeed, it 
is not too much to say that the doctrine of the equiva- 
lence of studies for pedagogical purposes is the weak 
spot in that great Report. This theory, as President 
Baker has pointed out, is at variance with Philosophy, 
with Psychology, and with the Science of Education. It 
ignores the " nature and value of the content." " Power 
comes though knowledge ; we cannot conceive of observa- 
tion and memory and reasoning in the abstract." Any 
number of things, such as chess, Choctaw, Egyptian hiero- 
glyphics, might be mentioned, the study of which would 
cultivate observation, memory, and reasoning, but would 
not leave in the mind a valuable residuum of knowledge 
that would make for power and righteousness. In build- 
ing the curriculum of the school, content must have due 
attention, or the whole structure will fall to the ground. 

And yet so great an impetus has been given, by this 
doctrine of the equivalence of studies, as promulgated in- 
directly by the Committee of Ten, that there are now 
those who advocate giving not only a choice between 
courses, but almost absolute freedom in the selection of 
the subjects. The advocates of this freedom of choice 
claim that children are " unlike in the mental charac- 
teristics which they inherit; that a rigid and uniform 
curriculum cannot meet the natural needs of our hetero- 
geneous population ; that in so far as we compel a child 
to study a subject that he instinctively dislikes, and in 
which he cannot succeed, we stimulate his aversion to 
intellectual pursuits ; that those who can master the 
sciences but not the languages, or the languages but not 
mathematics, are as much entitled to the fostering care 
of the State in their education as those who can become 
adepts in all three — science, language, and mathe- 
matics." 1 

1 "Educational Review," Vol. x., p. 20. 



164 UNION COLLEGE. 

Reduced to its lowest terms, this argument simply 
comes to this ; Let a boy study only what tickles his in- 
tellectual palate ; let him put aside everything that pre- 
sents difficulties ; let him intensify the weaknesses as 
well as the strengths which he inherits. It would not be 
difficult to forecast the results of such a system of educa- 
tion. It would develop men weak intellectually, or strong 
only in some special line, and weaker morally — men 
without the moral fiber to dare and to do, to fight, and, if 
need be, to die, for what is right. An education that 
trains men to avoid difficulties is not the education that 
is needed for life. The education we require is the edu- 
cation that enables a man to see clearly the object he 
ought to attain, and for the sake of that object, no mat- 
ter how distasteful the struggle, to overcome all difficul- 
ties. Francis Bacon held different views from those of 
the advocates of unrestrained freedom in the choice of 
subjects of study. " There is no stond or impediment in 
the wit," he says, " but may be wrought out by fit stu- 
dies, like as diseases of the body may have appropriate 
exercises. . . . So, if a man's wit be wandering, let him 
study the mathematics ; for in demonstrations, if his wit 
be called away never so little, he must begin agaiu ; if his 
wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him 
study the schoolmen ; if he be not apt to beat over mat- 
ters, and to call upon one thing to prove and illustrate 
another, let him study the lawyer's cases. So every 
defect of the mind may have a special receipt." 

Two influences will probably prevent the tendency 
toward electives in the school from proceeding too far. 
One of these is the saving common sense of the people, 
who are quick to detect and to cure the vagaries of pro- 
fessional educators. The other is the restraining influ- 
ence of the college ; for, while the entrance examination 
is yet very far from being ideal, it will always be a guide, 
to a considerable extent, to the schools ; and the influence 



ADDEESS. 165 

of the college always has been, and probably always will 
be, conservative. 

And yet we are confronted with a most serious diffi- 
culty. On the one hand, we have a multitude of subjects 
that must be taught ; on the other hand, we see the im- 
possibility of teaching all of them with advantage to 
each pupil. Is there no middle course! Is there no 
means of determining what subjects are necessary to all 
pupils, and what subjects may be freely left to choice? 

Dr. Harris, in writing the Report of the Committee of 
Fifteen on the Correlation of Studies, has, in my judg- 
ment, given us the test by which to determine what are 
the essential studies for both the elementary and the sec- 
ondary school. " Fourthly and chiefly," he says, " your 
Committee understands by correlation of studies the se- 
lection and arrangement in orderly sequence of such ob- 
jects of study as shall give the child an insight into the 
world that he lives in, and a command over its resources 
such as is obtained by a helpful cooperation with one's 
fellows. In a word, the chief consideration to which all 
others are to be subordinated is this requirement of the 
civilization into which the child is born, as determining 
not only what he shall study in school, but what habits 
and customs he shall be taught in the family before the 
school age arrives." If this principle, — the efficacy of a 
subject of study in giving the student an insight into the 
civilization in which he lives, — if this principle be ac- 
cepted as the chief determinant in building courses of 
study, it ought not to be difficult to reach a conclusion as 
to what are the essential studies. 

In the first place it is evident that our civilization can- 
not spare any of the subjects in the traditional curriculum 
of the elementary school. Reading, writing, composition, 
arithmetic, geography, drawing, and the history of our 
own country are most assuredly essential subjects. To 
these I am disposed to add, for the elementary grades, 
11* 



166 UNION COLLEGE. 

manual training and familiar experiments in science. 
Science has given us the wonderful inventions that have 
almost revolutionized life in the nineteenth century. At 
least a beginning in the ways of science should be made, 
therefore, by every child. Every man should know some- 
thing of wood-working and iron-working tools ; and every 
woman something of sewing and cooking. The time has 
arrived when the eye may no longer say to the hand, " I 
have no need of thee." 

In the secondary school the essential studies are litera- 
ture, science, mathematics, and history. 

By literature I do not mean the desultory reading of a 
little modern prose and poetry, but a study, more or less 
careful, of characteristic pieces of the world's literature. 
Every boy should know his Homer in English, even if 
he never reads it in G-reek. Every boy should read some 
of Plato's dialogues that he may learn how to examine 
theories. Every boy should read his Shakspere, because 
there, if anywhere, the passions may be purified, to use 
Aristotle's words, by pity and terror. Every boy should 
read his Bible, because the Bible has been the most po- 
tent agent for civilization during the last two thousand 
years, and because scriptural language runs like a golden 
thread through all modern literature. And yet a distin- 
guished professor of English at Harvard has told me 
that he rarely finds one of his students who can explain 
the Biblical allusions in Shakspere. The boy who has 
acquired a taste for Homer, Shakspere, and the Bible 
will not fail to make himself acquainted with Dante, 
Goethe, Swift, and the great moderns. The great world- 
literature contains the record of the development of 
man's spiritual nature. And what is our civilization but 
the concrete result of this development 1 Without know- 
ing something of the world-literature, man may dig, and 
eat, and sleep, and buy, and sell, but he will have little 
understanding of the civilization into which he is born. 



ADDKESS. 167 

With that literature his life will be fuller, more useful, 
aud more joyous. 

It would lead me too far afield, aud I have already con- 
sumed too much of your time, were I to give the reasons 
why I regard mathematics (algebra and geometry), his- 
tory, especially the history of institutions, and science 
(physics and chemistry) as, in addition to literature, the 
essential studies of the high school. 

There are those who claim that the Latin and Greek 
languages ought to be included in the list of essential 
subjects. Dr. Harris, for instance, argues elaborately 
that we cannot understand anything fully until we study 
its embryology; and that, since we have derived our 
ideas of law and order from Rome, and our ideas of 
beauty and taste from Greece, we are studying, in the 
languages of these two countries, the embryology of 
many of the most important features of our civilization. 
The answer to this argument is that we have borrowed 
from the Hebrew civilization quite as much as from the 
civilizations of Greece and Rome, and that we have never 
considered it necessary that all should study Hebrew in 
order to understand quite clearly the mandates of ethics 
and the doctrines of religion. 

But, some one answers, you can never gain a true con- 
ception of any great work of literature unless you read 
it in the original tongue. This is doubtless true, at least 
in part ; but it is true, if at all, only of those who have 
learned to think in that tongue whatever it may be. 
Ninety-nine one-hundredths of all college graduates, it 
would be safe to say, have not learned to think in Greek. 
They do not and cannot appreciate iEschylus or Demos- 
thenes in Greek ; that is, they do not appreciate iEschylus 
or Demosthenes, as they appreciate Tennyson or Brown- 
ing. What they do appreciate, when with painful efforts 
they seek to interpret the text, are not the transcendent 
beauties of Greek style, but those beauties as dimly re- 



168 UNION COLLEGE. 

fleeted, or distorted, in their own bald and meager trans- 
lations. The great majority of those who study Latin 
and Greek, study the literature not in the original but 
in their own translations. As the literature must, there- 
fore, in nearly all cases be studied in poor translations, 
why not have good translations at once? 

If, then, we are to regard literature, mathematics, his- 
tory, and physics and chemistry, as the essential subjects 
in the secondary school, what are those which may be left 
to choice ? Popular demand, at least in the large cities, 
has, it would seem, already determined what the elective 
courses shall be. The people demand from the high 
schools three classes of students : 

1. Those who are well trained in the classical languages, 
and who are prepared to meet in these departments of 
knowledge the most exacting requirements of the colleges. 

2. Those who are well trained in commercial subjects, 
such as book-keeping, commercial correspondence, and 
commercial law. 

3. Those who have had special training of hand and 
eye, who understand and can make machinery, who, 
though they may not be adepts in any particular trade, 
comprehend thoroughly the principles that underlie all 
trades — who can give the touch of the artist to the work 
of the artisan. 

In a word, our civilization demands that its educated 
men, no matter what their walk in life, should have the 
exactness that comes from mathematical study, the prac- 
tical knowledge that flows from science, the political 
knowledge that flows from history, and the culture that 
flows from the essentially humanizing study of literature. 
Our civilization does not demand that all men should be 
merchants, but it does demand many men who have had 
special training in the usages of commerce. Our civiliza- 
tion does not demand that all men shall be machinists or 



ADDEESS. 169 

designers or inventors; but it does demand many men 
who "have a theoretical as well as a practical knowledge 
of the mechanic arts. Our civilization does not demand 
that all men should be classical scholars ; or even that all 
should have a smattering of the Latin and Greek tongues ; 
but it does demand that some men should be great classi- 
cal scholars, worthy interpreters to their fellows of the 
contributions made by the peoples of antiquity to the evo- 
lution of society as a whole and of man as an individual. 
It is the province of the secondary school to present op- 
portunities to these various types of men to commence 
the study of their appropriate subjects. But the mission 
of the school is not ended even here. It is the duty of 
the school to see, as far as possible, that each student, in 
addition to the essential subjects, is studying that special 
group of subjects for which he is best fitted by nature. 
The secondary school is the place where the choice among 
the many paths that stretch through life must be made. 
A mistake here is well nigh irreparable. A mistake here 
is an injury not only to the individual but to society ; for 
of all the ailments from which society suffers there is per- 
haps none more weakening than the wrong distribution of 
talent. There are legislators, both State and National, who 
ought certainly to be making shoes or following the plow 
or breaking stones, and there are shoemakers well fitted 
by nature to be legislators. There are principals of schools 
who ought to be selling ribbons ; there are men selling 
ribbons who ought to be principals of schools. There are 
men in the pulpit who ought to be physicians or lawyers ; 
and there are physicians and lawyers who ought to be 
something entirely different. What a change there would 
be, not merely in the distribution of wealth, not merely 
in increased production from labor, but in the happiness, 
the morality, the general well-being of mankind, if every 
man were set to that kind of work which he can do best. 



170 UNION COLLEGE. 

And thei'e is no other agency which has an opportunity 
equal to that possessed by the secondary school to bring 
about this consummation so devoutly to be desired. 

Another great change that has been working itself out 
during the last hundred years is a change in methods of 
teaching. This change appears, first, in the better adap- 
tation of the subject-matter to the pupil's mind ; second, 
in the opportunities given to the pupil to observe, to com- 
pare, and to reason, instead of merely to memorize words, 
words, words ; and third, in the attempts now being made, 
under the influence of the philosophy of Herbart, to coor- 
dinate various studies : that is, so to arrange the instruc- 
tion that the study of one subject shall support and throw 
light on the study of every other subject. 

Another great change during the century is the slow 
but steady growth of the idea that the only sure and cer- 
tain way of improving our schools is by providing train- 
ing for our teachers. State Normal Schools are a compara- 
tively recent growth. It was not until 1839 that the first 
State Normal School was established in Massachusetts, and 
not until 1844 that a similar institution was established in 
New York. In the year 1895, however, our legislature 
enacted a statute which, in this matter at least, places the 
Empire State in advance of all her sister commonwealths. 
Seven years ago, at a meeting of the State Council of 
Superintendents held in Albany, I had the honor to offer 
a resolution to the effect that the Council should present 
to the Legislature a bill requiring that, after a certain 
date, no teacher should be licensed or employed in the 
public schools of any city or village of this State who had 
not had three years' successful experience in teaching, or, 
in lieu thereof, graduated from a high school and spent at 
least one school-year in professional training. That meas- 
ure has three times passed the Legislature. Once it was 
purposely permitted to die by the failure of Governor Hill 
to affix his official signature. Once it was vetoed by Grov- 



ADDKESS. 171 

ernor Flower. In the year 1895 it was passed by the Le- 
gislature and signed by Governor Morton. All honor to 
Governor Morton ! 

One other great change there has been. When Union 
College was founded but little provision had been made 
for the elementary education, and none for the higher ed- 
ucation, of girls. Now the number of girls in the secon- 
dary schools of the land far exceeds the number of boys ; 
and the number of young women in college is rapidly in- 
creasing. Who can calculate the benefits that are to ac- 
crue from the diffusion of culture, from enhanced educa- 
tional power, among the mothers of the land ! Not the 
college, not the secondary school, not the elementary 
school, but the mother, may be the greatest educator. 

The great educational movements of the last one hun- 
dred years have been the movement to remove education 
from ecclesiastical and private control and to place it 
under public control; the movement to reform the curric- 
ulum, first by extending it, and then by introducing the 
elective system under proper limitations ; the movement 
to improve methods of teaching by introducing individual 
research and coordinating the subjects of study ; and the 
movement to place the advantages of education, from the 
kindergarten to the university, within the reach of all, 
women as well as men. And this last movement is bound 
to foster another, which, though still in its infancy, will 
necessarily condition all the others — the movement to 
study that most complex and delicate of all the mechan- 
isms created by God — the human child. 



ADDRESS 

BY REV. C. F. P. BANCROFT, LL. D. 

Principal of Phillips Andover Academy. 

WHEN, through the favor and courtesy of your hon- 
ored President and those associated with him in 
making up the program of this beautiful academic fes- 
tival, I was invited to take part in this conference, follow- 
ing the formal addresses with some informal remarks, I 
felt constrained to accept the honor out of admiration 
for this university, and I assumed that I should be per- 
mitted, and perhaps expected, to speak of the work of 
the academies in the secondary field, partly on account 
of my long and intimate connection with a representative 
school of this particular type, partly because Union Col- 
lege rests upon an academy which was established ten 
years earlier and which was merged in the college when 
the latter was founded, and more particularly because 
during the last century the college has received a large 
portion of its pupils from this source of supply, and 
doubtless must do so in the future to a very considerable 
extent. 

The proper scope of secondary instruction has never 
been well defined in this country. The limits between 
primary and secondary subjects, and between secondary 
and superior studies, have shifted. This is not strange. 

172 



ADDEESS. 173 

The country is still new, it has always been wide, and at 
the first it was very poor. These circumstances have 
delayed a careful separation and a close articulation of 
the various departments of instruction. The theory of 
educational values has been unsettled. In the present 
period of educational reorganization some higher studies 
have dipped down into the secondary schools, and, partly 
by way of experiment, studies once regarded as purely 
elementary have shot across not only the whole breadth 
of the schools, but also of the colleges, and have emerged 
as university studies. In fact, it seems to be chiefly a 
question of method and rate whether a study shall be 
considered primary, secondary, collegiate, or graduate. 
But there must be a true order of studies, and by and 
by there must be substantial agreement as to the proper 
field of each of our grades of education. Secondary edu- 
cation will improve when that day comes. 

In developing our secondary education we have also 
employed many different instruments. Private instruc- 
tion has long obtained in England, and is likely to find 
favor more and more with us, not as a necessity, not as 
a luxury, but on account of its flexibility and power of 
individual adaptation. Very early in our history " Latin 
Schools" or "Grammar Schools" were established, after 
the model of the English foundation schools. For the 
most part they have lost their distinctive character, hav- 
ing become academies in effect, or more nearly like our 
public high schools. The Roxbury Latin School, which 
celebrated last week its two hundred and fiftieth anni- 
versary, has probably preserved its independent character 
more nearly than any other, but is changed almost be- 
yond recognition. In the last half of the last century 
academies were developed under the most favoring cir- 
cumstances. Within the last sixty years public high 
schools have been created in great numbers, and have 
established themselves with marvelous rapidity in the 



174 UNION COLLEGE. 

confidence of the people. Recently strictly private 
schools have multiplied, and large account must be made 
of them in any comprehensive survey of secondary edu- 
cation. And, finally, a group of " schools " has been de- 
veloped, somewhat after the model of the newer founda- 
tion schools in England, schools of which St. Paul's at 
Concord and the Lawrenceville School are the most famil- 
iar and brilliant illustrations. 

Such, in summary, are the different instruments em- 
ployed in the secondary field. We must recognize them 
all ; there is room for them all ; there is need of them all. 

I am to speak particularly of the academy. 

The word academy has been somewhat challenged ; it 
has been said to be too large and too ambitious. But it 
has associations derived not alone from the fairest scene 
in the Attic plain, the noblest doctrines of Greek philoso- 
phy, and the purest Greek teachers, but others derived 
from the fact that Milton chose it in his tractate on edu- 
cation as the designation of his ideal school for the train- 
ing of the best youth, gathered together for the most 
perfect education ; and Milton stands for all that is noble 
in letters, beautiful in personal character, pathetic in 
trial, patriotic in service, faithful in friendship, and im- 
mortal in fame. The Nonconformists adopted the word 
for the schools which they established because they were 
excluded from the foundations under the control of the 
Establishment, and thus again it obtained a recognized 
significance. Of more immediate interest to us is the 
fact that Benjamin Franklin adopted the word when in 
1743 he drew up the plan for a higher school for the pro- 
vince of Pennsylvania, and especially for the city of 
Philadelphia — a school which was known for only a few 
years as an academy, then as a college, and now as the 
University of Pennsylvania — a proud institution which 
takes for its official date not the year of its own charter, 



ADDEESS. 175 

nor that of the college, nor yet that of the academy, but 
goes back to 1740, when the original charitable school 
which Franklin reorganized as an academy was estab- 
lished, thus making the life of the university venerable 
among the universities of our land. The title " Academy," 
therefore, has in it the memory not only of Plato and 
Milton, but also of the sagacious, the practical, the enter- 
prising, the benevolent and patriotic Franklin, whose 
gifts for the promotion of learning in America have 
proved so fruitful and enduring. 

A little later than Franklin's academy in Philadelphia 
there was a movement toward the foundation of a great 
secondary school in Massachusetts, and the name academy, 
after much deliberation, was adopted by the Phillips fam- 
ily for their Andover institution. It was a new school, 
and a new kind of a school. The idea and the name at 
once prevailed. In Massachusetts alone more than a 
hundred academy charters were granted. The State of 
New Hampshire and the province of Maine took up the 
idea, and the academies at Exeter, New Ipswich, Frye- 
burg, Atkinson, and elsewhere were started. Subse- 
quently hundreds of similar schools were planted in New 
England, in New York, in Ohio, and later in the far 
West, and to some extent in the South. In many cases 
the Andover constitution was adopted almost bodily. 
The founders lived to see in their own generation the 
fulfilment of the wish expressed in their original gift to 
Phillips Academy, viz., that "its usefulness may be so 
manifest as to lead the way to other establishments on 
the same principles." Up to the time when the public 
high school became an integral part of our school sys- 
tems, the academy was the principal agency of secondary 
education. It is still a large factor. The academy went 
before and prepared the way for the high school, and 
made the high school possible by creating the demand 



176 UNION COLLEGE. 

for it. The development of the academy was a true re- 
vival of learning, and an epoch-making event in American 
education. 

# # # # # 

The typical academy is a school devoted to secondary 
education. It has been said to-day that in many cases 
academies have been nondescript, have exceeded their 
province, have attempted college work. It is true that 
at times, and under peculiar pressure, they have attempted 
to dignify themselves and enrich their courses by teach- 
ing subjects which belong elsewhere. Some apology and 
explanation have been given already. The temptation has 
often been great, but the typical academy confines itself 
to its own specific work, and thereby seeks to benefit 
its own and the coming generations. It is not a college, 
nor a part of a college. If ever it has wandered from its 
own field, it has been partly due to the uncertainty of 
boundary already alluded to, and partly to the urgency 
of the demand for the higher education. So far as the 
academy has yielded to the temptation it has ceased to 
be a true academy. In adjusting itself to the new de- 
mands and the new conception of secondary education, 
it has shown its capacity to meet any just requirement 
which the new education may lay upon it, and to main- 
tain its place in our school systems. It is neither out- 
grown nor outworn. 

The academy is an incorporated and endowed institu- 
tion. It is not a private venture for profit, nor a personal 
memorial, nor a neighborhood convenience, nor a pro- 
moter's device for raising values. It is under the aegis of 
the State like the colleges, and therefore a public founda- 
tion. It is endowed like our colleges, and therefore a 
charity. It is incorporated that it may acquire and con- 
serve the resources necessary to give it stability, dignity, 
and efficiency. It is under the visitation and control of 
the State that it may not waste or divert its funds, and 



ADDRESS. 177 

thereby fail to subserve the interests of the Commonwealth. 
It receives the gifts of public-spirited and generous citi- 
zens and holds them in perpetuity for the good of all. 
It is, therefore, as truly public as our colleges, or as the 
so-called great public schools of England — Eton, Harrow, 
Rugby, and the rest. The attempt to disparage the aca- 
demy by calling it a private institution is to ignore the 
motives which created it, the spirit in which it has been 
administered, and the work which it has done. 

The academy is historically a religious institution. 
The occasion for its establishment, as graphically stated 
by Dr. Alexander in his discourse yesterday, was the de- 
cline of learning and religion in the colonies. The motive 
for its establishment, as stated by Franklin and the Phil- 
lipses was threefold, — philanthropic, patriotic, religious. 
The youth of the land were to be educated for the sake 
of their individual welfare and happiness ; the State was 
to be saved from the dangers of prevailing ignorance, 
provided with competent magistrates, and set forward 
in wealth and power; the Christian religion was to be 
inculcated, and its influences brought to bear upon the 
youthful mind, by -means of wholesome associations and 
the instructions and example of able and devout teachers. 
Franklin emphasized the patriotic motive, but did not 
omit the other two. The Phillipses emphasized the re- 
ligious motive, but gave full weight to the three. Clergy- 
men and Churches have always had much to do with our 
academies, but to a surprisingly small degree has sectarian 
influence usurped the place of religious influence. They 
have often been planted and fostered by denominations, 
but learning is catholic, and the schools have ministered 
to faith rather than to dogma. The academy has been 
religious through and through because administered by 
religious men. 

Much has been said about the place of religion in edu- 
cation, but we are in great danger of missing the real 
12 



178 UNION COLLEGE. 

point. A school cannot be made Christian simply by 
putting it under ecclesiastical control. The reverent re- 
petition of prayers will not make a Christian school, just 
as writing the word God into the Constitution will not 
make a Christian nation. Religious influences proceed 
by a different law. They are the most vital in the world. 
They cannot be taught like mathematics. We make a 
great mistake, therefore, when we think that there can be 
no religious teaching except by a prelate, or according to a 
creed, or by use of a ritual. The religious life of a school 
is in its teachers far more than in its teaching. 

As I walked this morning through the beautiful domain 
of this college, I said to myself, How easy to destroy its 
religious character in spite of all its original purpose 
and its history, simply by giving the appointing power 
over into the hands of some enemy of religion. Equip 
your professorships with agnostics, with atheists, with 
profligates, and Union College will cease to be the mother 
of bishops and ministers and God-fearing men in all the 
other noble walks of life. It is the influence of men like 
Tayler Lewis and Laurens P. Hickok, who have loved God 
and their fellow-men, who have done their duty day by 
day without the slightest pretense of sanctity, who have 
gone in and out amid these precincts hallowed by the 
memories of the great and the good, and in their turn have 

girded their spirits or deepened the streams 
That make glad the fair city of God. 

It is the influence of these profoundly religious men that 
has made this a truly Christian college, has delivered it 
from a narrow sectarianism, and caused it to stand 
against the unfaith and the heresies of the world. 

The academies, removed from political control, pro- 
tected from frequent and sudden changes of administra- 
tion, identified by their traditions and often by the terms 



ADDEESS. 179 

of their charters with the spirit and work of the Churches, 
are in a peculiar position of vantage in the selection of 
teachers and the maintenance of a strong and wholesome 
religious life. What might at first seem to be a limitation 
has proved to be a safeguard of piety, and a liberalizing 
factor in the cultivation of both mind and heart. 

The academy is an institution free from local control. 
I speak of this with a degree of diffidence after the able 
address of the morning. It is true that a school cannot 
thrive except in friendly environment, nor can it prosper 
if it does not adapt itself to real and present needs. It 
is suicide to relieve a school from the support of its 
alumni, the considerate gifts of its friends, the watchful 
sympathy and regards of all who are concerned in it. 
The oversight of its trustees must be wide and liberal. 
The strength of the academies has been in the fact that 
they were not planted for narrow communities, but " for 
mankind." Like the colleges, they were made equal to 
the whole length and breadth of humanity, and they wel- 
comed to themselves pupils from every quarter and gave 
them of their best. One of the advantages they have 
claimed over some other schools has been that they bring 
together, on terms of intellectual and social cooperation, 
pupils from a wide range of territory and previous train- 
ing and future career, in a republic of letters. A good 
academy is above local dictation, individual whims, and 
private requirements. Its governing board, its teaching 
staff, its student body, its rightful constituency, are too 
large and too intelligent to submit to caprice and preju- 
dice, whether of individual parent or pupil. The fact 
that it is not under local constraints makes it free and 
independent. 

The typical academy is not designed for the classes. 
One of the agents of the Massachusetts Board of Educa- 
tion, himself educated in a Normal School, at one time 
made the public statement that the academies were 



180 UNION COLLEGE. 

planted for the rich, but I am happy to see that the state- 
ment was subsequently withdrawn or modified. These 
schools were benevolent from the outset. To make it 
possible to give the best education at a moderate cost, en- 
dowments were sought. The fees have been kept at a 
figure much below the actual cost. The instruction has 
been so good that the sons of the most favored have re- 
sorted to them ; they have been so accessible that the sons 
of the humblest and poorest might aspire to their priv- 
ileges. Special funds for students' aid have been gener- 
ously provided for those in pecuniary straits. The acad- 
emies have been as truly democratic as the colleges, which, 
in spite of popular misconception, are for the poor rather 
than the rich. In colleges and academies alike the ma- 
jority of the students are at struggle to secure the means 
of their education. 

Nor, as is sometimes insinuated, are the academies pro- 
vided for educating the illiterate and incompetent. The 
annals of Union are enough to refute the charge. One 
great service of the academy has been that it attracts the 
brightest minds, the most forceful characters, stirs in them 
the desire for liberal education, shows them the possibility 
of it, prepares them for it, and sends them on into it. 
Like a magnet the academy draws out from the mass of 
society that which is most capable of being put to the 
highest uses. 

The academy provides not simply for the brief school 
periods of the pupil, and that chiefly on the intellectual 
side, but for the entire life of the pupil, seven days in the 
week, twenty-four hours in the day. The social life, the 
recreations, the public worship, the manifold and varied 
interests of youth, — body, soul, and spirit, — are included 
in the academy scheme. Many a boy and girl coming 
out from good homes have found in a good school a better 
and safer place for them than home. Cut off from im- 
mediate parental advice, thrown back upon their own re- 



ADDKESS. 181 

sources, forced to make decisions for themselves, enjoying 
a large measure of responsibility and freedom, questions 
come up for solution, great questions for the first time 
perhaps, the greatest possible questions about their per- 
sonal relations to God and duty, and in many cases the 
most momentous decisions have been made, and hence- 
forth the spiritual life has been clear, consistent, and 
strong. The academy has been a palestra of character. 
As the college age has risen more and more, the academy 
age has been the one in which have been developed and 
made permanent the habits of manhood, self-control, in- 
dependence, and enterprise. Those conditions and ele- 
ments which have made the colleges so useful to the 
country have been found measurably in the academies 
and made them the means of the more general, more 
thorough, more ennobling education of our people. 

The question is sometimes raised, Shall this agency give 
place to something else ? By all means, if something bet- 
ter can be found. After you have provided your cities, 
your towns, and your larger villages with the local means 
of secondary education, there will be a wide extent of 
territory and population unprovided for, including the 
rural districts, out of which in the history of our country 
have come some of the noblest minds and strongest char- 
acters. The history of our academies shows also that out 
of our cities, and from the shadow of our best public and 
private schools, come many excellent pupils who for vari- 
ous reasons have found academy life best suited to their 
needs. 

I cannot doubt that Union College, the outgrowth and 
successor of the Schenectady Academy, having received 
a large proportion of its pupils from the academies, and 
having in turn supplied a great number of academies 
with successful teachers and patrons of secondary learn- 
ing, will continue to foster academies in this and the 
other States, not to the neglect or disparagement of any 
12* 



182 UNION COLLEGE. 

other kind of school, but in just recognition of a large 
field which the academy alone has been able to occupy 
down to the present time. 

As I glance at the portraits along these walls, I see the 
faces of men whose fame and influence have been world- 
wide. There is not an academy of any importance in the 
land which has not felt the touch of your great teachers. 
Their books have come to us, and their lives have been 
repeated to us in the lives of their pupils. Here is one of 
your presidents, a graduate of our theological seminary, 
and a teacher in our academy. There is Eliphalet Nott, 
who built himself massively into the history of this col- 
lege and his age, and whom I learned to admire in the en- 
thusiasm and veneration of a neighbor over whom I 
lately said the burial service, a graduate of our academy 
seventy years ago, and of your college more than sixty 
years ago. Dr. Nott prepared himself for his great work 
here by founding an academy in his early ministry and 
serving as its principal while still caring for his parish. 
Time would fail us to show how intimate have been the 
relations between this college and the academies. May 
their mutual helpfulness and interest never cease ! 

[This paper was followed by an informal discussion of the general sub- 
ject, in which the Chairman, Rev. Walter Scott, Principal of the Connecticut 
Literary Institution, and others participated.] 



oftmcaticmaf Conference. 

AFTEBNOON SESSION, 

Peesident Austin Scott, of Rutgeks College, 
peesiding. 

SUBJECT : THE COLLEGE. 



INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS 

BY PRESIDENT SCOTT. 

UNION COLLEGE may be taken for granted. I shall 
not attempt to do as those who have preceded me 
have done — pay the tribute to her that she deserves ; but, 
as one passes through the halls of Union he must lift 
the hat. Perhaps no greater tribute could be paid her 
than to say that the subject that is before us this af- 
ternoon is in some respects discussed more fittingly at 
Union College than anywhere else. We divide time into 
centuries ; but the thought has come to me, Is it not pos- 
sible that the fragments and portions of time might be 
expressed and divided by the ordinary punctuation marks? 
For example, some portions of time are so without mean- 
ing, or at least only get their meaning as they pass over 



184 UNION COLLEGE. 

into other portions of time, that they might be, as in sen- 
tences, separated from others by a comma. There are 
other periods that are quite incidental, which might be 
inclosed in brackets or parentheses ; and there are still 
other periods that, repeating those already past, might 
be put in quotation marks ; but the century that is just 
coming to a close may, perhaps, best be represented by a 
question mark. 

We heard this morning of many things that this cen- 
tury has done in education. It has done a great deal in 
political development. It has provided the materials on 
all hands for something that is to come in statecraft, in 
religion, in various departments ; but as it rounds itself 
out, perhaps if we were to choose that which would typify 
this century most aptly, we should choose for its symbol 
the question mark. What is to become, politically, of 
this continent of ours? What is to be the outcome of 
all the elements that are jostling each other in education ? 
In the college we have to make a tripod stand : the edu- 
cation of the mind, of the soul, and of the body. Per- 
haps for the first time in the history of education has 
it come about that, simultaneously, these three parts that 
make up the whole man are considered by those who are 
to determine what education is and is to be, but it is a 
question whether the three tripod-legs are equal, and 
whether those who are charged with the direction of 
education can make it stand. How far must athletics 
be made a part of the curriculum of a college ? How is 
the mind best trained 1 How far shall moral training be 
a part of any scheme for the perfection of the college 
course? These are all matters the present state of 
which, as the century goes out, can best be represented 
by a question mark. Another thing: What is the col- 
lege? I saw a day or two ago in a newspaper a chal- 
lenge on the part of the colleges to the universities to 
this effect : Shall they not give up their undergraduate 



INTKODUCTOKY ADDKESS. 185 

work ; shall they not confine themselves to that which is 
true university work? But I will not detain you. My 
function is simply to listen while those who are pre- 
pared to solve some of these questions speak. Among 
the questions which the nineteenth century is to briug to 
the twentieth is the silver question. I am to present to 
you the man who knows all about it. I doubt whether 
there is a man within the four bounds of our Republic 
who could have shown the superb courage that has been 
shown by my neighbor on my right in writing the his- 
tory of the last twenty-five years. So I say to you that 
I bring you an expert riddle-solver when I present the 
President of that honored institution, — Brown University. 



ADDEESS 

BY PRESIDENT ANDREWS. 

MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen: Some years 
ago the Episcopal Bishop Meade, of the State of 
Maine, preached in a logging camp. He preached in his 
canonicals, but without manuscript. When he was done, 
a lumberman remarked that it was the first time he ever 
knew of " one of those petticoat fellows to shoot without 
a rest." When I looked over your program and saw the 
formidable announcement of papers and addresses to be 
presented on this occasion, I said to myself, " You are, 
indeed, a rash man if you undertake to shoot this after- 
noon without a rest." I much fear, now I have gotten on 
my feet and look you in the faces, that ere I conclude I 
shall need a rest, and I am still surer that when I am 
done you will need one. Not knowing exactly how formal 
or how popular these exercises were intended to be, I 
did not bring any manuscript. I suppose I might have 
brought some. I have in my closet a large amount for 
which I am responsible ; but I am bound to declare that 
I have none with me either in my pocket or in my head. 
I have, therefore, to shoot as well as I can without a rest. 
When President Raymond invited me to be present and 
take part this afternoon, although I knew I should at this 
time be exceedingly busy, I could not find it in my heart 
to decline, because the school where I do my work is 
more indebted to' this institution than to any other in 



ADDEESS. 187 

the wide, wide world. We of Brown University feel a very 
deep sense of debt to the College of New Jersey, because 
the first president of our university was an honored grad- 
uate of Princeton. But if our college had its original 
birth in James Manning, it had its second and greater 
birth in Francis Wayland, and Francis Wayland was 
educated in Union College. Possibly I am able to allude 
to one thing pertaining to Wayland's influence which 
you do not know already. I suppose the greatest event 
in the world's political life the last year has been the war 
between China and Japan. I fancy that almost all people 
in the Western nations, and perhaps nearly all in Japan 
as well, have been amazed to see with what ease that lit- 
tle nation Japan walked away with the victory. But 
there was a history preparatory to that victory, as there 
is to every great phenomenon in human life. Those ac- 
quainted with the origin of Japanese liberty know that 
it rose in almost exactly the same way as did free Prussia 
after the battle of Jena. Books on Prussia's wonderful 
development relate that it had its source, its start, in the 
intellectual movement, headed by Fichte, out of which 
grew the University of Berlin. Now, there was at the 
beginning of the national development of Japan a Japa- 
nese Fichte, a mighty moral teacher of Japanese youth. 
The Fichte of Japan was that famous philosopher Tuku 
Zawa. 

It is an interesting story, too long to tell here this after- 
noon, how that great man, in the darkest time his native 
land ever saw, gathered about him, just as Fichte did in 
Berlin, young men who had hope and power, and taught 
them of their possibilities and of the possibilities of the 
land in which they lived, filling them with quenchless 
zeal for their people. I have recently learned that the 
text-book which Tuku Zawa was wont to use, whence he 
brought moral inspiration, fire, and ambition into the 
souls of those young men, was "The Elements of Moral 



188 UNION COLLEGE. 

Science " by Francis Wayland. We at Brown University 
are proud of that fact, as we are of everything connected 
with the career of our great president, and it is out of 
veneration for him more than from any other cause that 
I attend this anniversary. 

The subject which was in a more or less indefinite way 
placed before me, as indicating the direction which my 
remarks were expected, to take, was the college of the 
present as compared with the college in earlier times. 
To it, so far as I have time and can command orderliness 
of thought, I will endeavor to aim my remarks. 

There is one particular in which collegiate instruc- 
tion is, to my mind, distinctly inferior to what it was, 
say, in Dr. Wayland's or Dr. Nott's time, — I mean that we 
make learning the central topic of our interest. The in- 
tellect is the mark at which we aim our work. Instead 
of humanity, instead of the man, we are now after the 
thing which man, it is supposed, ought to know. When 
Dr. Nott was chosen president of Union College, and, in 
subsequent days, when Dr. Wayland was made president 
of Brown University, educators were not thinking prima- 
rily of furthering human learning and science. These 
were, of course, matters of interest, but not matters of 
central interest. The main thing with them was to de- 
velop manhood, to turn out students who should nobly 
fill important places in society. Therefore, when college 
trustees were about selecting a man who was to have the 
direction of a college, they looked beyond the question 
of his learning. Though they did not leave learning out 
of the account, they did not necessarily choose the most 
learned man. They desired a man of intellectual tastes, 
but above all things they desired a grand and splendid 
manhood like Dr. Wayland's. If they could find such a 
man they placed him over the college, so that the entire 
administration of collegiate work might have as its ob- 
ject the training of young manhood in large and splen- 



ADDEESS. 189 

did character. Those thoughts gave bent and direction 
to all educational work in Dr. Wayland's time. When 
such educators laid out a curriculum they filled it with 
drill and culture studies, the central thought being still 
human character and faculty. They made comparatively 
little of the subject studied; little of mere science; little 
of mere form. They were thinking of what was best 
calculated, or was thought to be, to develop manhood in 
the pupils. Their curriculum contained much mathe- 
matics, the study of which was continued right up to 
the end of the junior year and further if desired. I be- 
lieve that with us all through Dr. Wayland's time mathe- 
matical study was insisted on quite to the end of the 
senior year. I am not saying that the college authorities 
of those days succeeded in making the best curriculum 
that could have been devised even then for the promotion 
of the "humanities." That was, however, their object, 
the great thought they all had in mind. They said, 
"Here are young men to be shaped for strong life by 
their work in college. What is the best curriculum to 
put them through 1 What the best course that we can 
lay down for them to make them the strongest and best 
men for their places in the world?" Aside from the 
teaching, and the lessons that were given them, students 
were incessantly led to think of their calling as men. 
Many doctors here this afternoon will say, "But we are 
doing those same things now." Indeed, we are, and for 
my part I am very glad that we are ; but I do not think 
that the motives which I have dwelt upon are at all as 
central and powerful in the educational practice of our 
time as in the educational practice of fifty or seventy- 
five years ago. 

Turning to the other side of the shield, I believe that, 
on the whole, educational work to-day is in the colleges 
and universities of America better than it ever was be- 
fore. It is better, not because we have so largely left out 



190 UNION COLLEGE. 

of our thought that great central conception of human 
character and faculty, but in spite of that omission. In 
what particulars is it better? I cannot mention them 
all; I mention a few. 

In the first place, our colleges now have more money 
than they had when Dr. Nott was here and Dr. Wayland 
was at Brown University ; they have a great deal more. 
Not all have as much as they would like. Even Chicago 
University, the greatest beggar in the college world, wants 
more money ; and we always shall want more. [Laughter.] 
After our commencement, feeling the need of recreation, 
I attended a ball game, a thing I do frequently, even 
when I don't specially need recreation. I saw a fine 
game. Three and a half innings had been played at the 
moment to which my thought now goes back, and neither 
side had sent a man across the plate. Just then some 
one from outside the in closure yelled for information, 
"What 's the score?" And some one inside the inclos- 
ure who knew shouted back, "Nothing to nothing and 
Providence ahead." [Great laughter.] I said to myself, 
" That is a most apt formula to describe the financial sit- 
uation of the colleges that I know." [Renewed laughter.] 
Take Union College and Brown University as an illustra- 
tion, and I should say that their score, compared with 
their needs, was "Nothing to nothing and Brown Uni- 
versity ahead." [Laughter.] Still, though you might de- 
scribe our present financial situation with a zero, you 
could easily use a capital zero, whereas in good Dr. 
Wayland's time you would have needed to select a 
" lower case " zero. We have much more to do with than 
he had. We have larger incomes and we teach more 
subjects; we have a larger scheme of education, more 
buildings, apparatus, and various appliances which he 
could not get. I hope we make as good use of our 
larger resources as educators in earlier times made of 
the smaller sums they had. 



ADDEESS. 191 

Secondly, college communities have better health than 
they once had. When I entered this chapel this afternoon 
a small program was handed me — I don't say "insig- 
nificant," because it had President Taylor's name on it (his 
name is a program in itself), and it contained also the name 
of the presiding officer. But it was not a large docket by 
any means. Soon a larger and fuller order of exercises 
was placed in my hands telling of the athletic contests 
which are to take place on these grounds after we ad- 
journ at four o'clock. That hints at one of the best feat- 
ures in our modern college life. I am among the college 
officials who rejoice in that athletic, that gymnastic de- 
velopment which is taking its place in college training. 
Now, at last, educators prize good health ; they make it 
a prominent matter for cultivation that youths' bodies 
shall be strong in order that youths' minds may have 
large and healthful basis. Among the many saws told 
about President Wayland is one to the effect that he al- 
ways advised young men, if they wished to keep well, to 
rise early in the morning and take long walks. He knew 
that none would do it, but then it was good advice. All 
our old graduates remember that precept to this day, 
though not one of them ever followed it. By that coun- 
sel President Wayland in effect anticipated all this mod- 
ern health-cultivation within the college. President Way- 
land laid greater stress on the very important matter of 
the students' health than most of the men in charge of 
higher education in his day. But the professors associ- 
ated with him thought little of it, and in consequence at 
Brown University you have to come down to compara- 
tively recent times to find any systematic attention paid 
to the physical training of students. Now, however, im- 
provement has come, and our students are forced, if they 
do not do it voluntarily, to take time for the upbuilding 
of their physical powers. The same can be said of every 
well-equipped college in this country. The physical de- 



/ 



192 UNION COLLEGE. 

velopment of young people in college is no longer neg- 
lected. The average youngster in college is, I believe, 
made healthier, bodily, during each of the four years of 
his sojourn there. We can prove that we actually cure a 
great many of the diseases which young men bring to col- 
lege ; and that we turn the young man who has no disease 
out of college at the end of his course in a condition in 
which he is less likely to contract one than he was when 
he entered, or would have been if he had not entered. 
Something is added to the life-probability of all young 
people who go through college. On an average they will 
live longer, do more work, work with less discomfort and 
grumbling than if they had not been students. Just 
think, ladies and gentlemen, how much it must mean for 
the future of our country if anything like that is true, 
touching our institutions of high learning. I believe that 
it is true, and will be still more true as physical train- 
ing becomes more and more an organic part of college 
education. 

Total wreck often follows neglect of the physical in a 
student's life. An educated mind may be worthless if 
handicapped by a diseased and emaciated body. I have 
an illustration in mind at this moment. A young colle- 
gian had won the highest laurels of his class. He was a 
splendid scholar. His equal had scarcely been known in 
the history of his college. He had broken the record in 
almost all studies. Students looked at him in amazement 
and said, " There goes So-and-so ; his record in Latin was 
so-and-so ; his record in Greek was so-and-so." Every 
old graduate took off his hat to him. So much for the 
development of his mind ; but what of his body 1 I will 
tell you: When he stood upon the graduating platform 
to pronounce the valedictory address, being taken with 
hemorrhage at the nose he was carried helpless from the 
platform and all day they hardly knew whether he would 
live or die. And though he was a good fellow and meant 



ADDEESS. 193 

to do good, it made little difference to the world whether 
he lived or died, for he has accomplished nothing from 
that day to this. He is a walking skeleton, with no hope 
of ever being anything else. You remember, perhaps, a 
remark once made in the Senate Chamber at Washington 
by Senator Fessenden, reflecting on Senator Sumner. As 
was his custom when about to make a speech, Sumner 
had just come in laden with a mass of books. Fessenden 
said, " Look at that d — d school-boy coming up to recite 
his lesson ! " A great many of the brilliant men who 
have graduated from American colleges have been in 
after life nothing but school-boys, — pedantic, with infor- 
mation enough, maybe, but unable to do aught with it 
for lack of physical strength. I am glad that there are to 
be athletic contests after these addresses. Young men, 
get health ; make your bodies strong ; then your learning 
will be of some use. The importance of a good physical 
groundwork to our mental life is becoming greater and 
greater with every passing year. Look at the influential 
men in Congress. The secret with every one of them is 
that he has a strong body and is able to work more hours 
a day than his fellows can. You must have health if you 
are going to do anything great in this competitive world. 
As a third element of superiority in our modern educa- 
tion, I would mention its larger liberty. The student has 
a greater freedom in the choice of studies. Unless car- 
ried to very great extremes, this is a distinct advantage. 
People have learned in recent years that God Almighty 
has many keys with which to unlock human intelligence. 
In our college we have shops where they do all sorts of 
cunning things ; a shop for wood- working, and a shop for 
work in iron, steel, and other metals. Three or four 
years ago our faculty recommended to the Board of Fel- 
lows that any candidate should be permitted to take one 
term in the woodwork shop and another in the iron and 
steel work shop, and that each term should count one 
13 



194 UNION COLLEGE. 

term toward the attainment of the degree whatever the 
degree might be for which the candidate was studying. 
This has been permitted ever since. A considerable 
number of the candidates for the degree of Bachelor of 
Arts avail themselves of the opportunity. A singular 
phenomenon has come to light in connection with this 
practice. We have found that many men have continued 
dull and inexact, flabby-minded and illogical, until they 
got into the shop, who then woke up, became bright, 
turned their attention to literature, and proved fine stu- 
dents. You would hardly believe this were it not stated 
to you on the authority of a college president. (Laugh- 
ter.) But it is true notwithstanding. (Laughter.) Per- 
haps with a little effort I can make all understand why it 
is so. A very inexact scholar can read Greek after a 
fashion, and get through the Freshman mathematics. At 
our college we do not require a candidate for Bachelor- 
ship in Arts to pursue mathematics after Freshman year. 
Well, your dullard can get through algebra, geometry, 
and trigonometry, and yet never attain exactness, accur- 
acy. Cardinal Newman, you remember, says that a great 
part of a liberal education is training in accuracy. The 
fellow stumbles through his "Herodotus," his "Homer," 
even his " Titus Livy " and his " Horace," and gets up 
his mathematics too, but the idea of knowing things ex- 
actly he has never been able to realize. But now he, 
who never did a day's work in a shop before in his 
life, goes to the shop and takes a lesson under the boss 
carpenter. This new preceptor says, " Take that board 
and plane that edge straight, young man, or you can't 
have credit for any work done in this shop." The young 
man wakes up. If he never opened his eyes before he 
now opens one at least to squint across that edge. 
(Laughter.) Then the professor of carpentry says : " Saw 
right up to that line on the right, but don't you saw it 
out." The learner tries, but saws the line out, and has to 



ADDEESS. 195 

begin again, for he gets no credit for that piece of work. 
He keeps at it until he can saw along the right of that 
line and not saw it out. When he has accomplished this 
feat, the instructor tries him upon the left of the line ; 
and then, when his pupil has mastered that conquest, he 
makes him saw out the line, every part of it. The stu- 
dent says: "I have done something at last, and, thank 
God, I have done it exactly ! " He could never say that 
before. I have known a number of cases where it seemed 
to me that the intellectual life of the youth began in* 
using a saw or a jack-plane or some other implement 
employed in the shop. 

There is larger liberty also in matters of conduct and 
belief. We do not drive orthodoxy or virtue into young 
men with the birch. In most States, I believe, it is still 
legal for a college president to take a senior across his 
knee, and it is certain that some of them deserve this. 
It is said that when Dr. Wayland was president he burst 
into a dark room where students were making great dis- 
order and seized one big fellow. They had a hard tussle, 
but Dr. Wayland was the better man. Grabbing the stu- 
dent bodily, he rushed him to the light and held him up 
as a girl would hold her doll, and said, " It is you, is it 1 " 
[Laughter.] The fellow could not well deny it — [laughter] 
— and so said, " Yes, it 's me." " Well," said Dr. Wayland, 
"go to your room and never let me catch you at this 
again." Nowadays, generally speaking, we do not em- 
ploy that form of discipline. I weigh one hundred and 
ninety-four pounds, but the center-rush in our foot-ball 
line is a young gentleman whom I should prefer to dis- 
cipline otherwise than corporally. A great deal could be 
said upon the advantage of free, open dealing with young- 
men, advantage with reference to their character, on both 
its religious and its moral side. 

However, leaving those interesting things to be dis- 
cussed by the president of Vassar College, who knows all 



196 UNION COLLEGE. 

about young men, I pass on to mention what I call the 
reality of our modern education as compared with the 
representative and arm's-length character of it once. I 
shall never cease thinking that most of the teaching un- 
der which I came when in college — that was a long time 
ago, I grant, and therefore, perhaps, the general argument 
loses weight, but still I will endeavor to advance it, such 
as it is — that most of the teaching in college when I was 
there was morbidly pedantic. It had little bearing upon 
life. It was well meant and it did some good. One must 
always be glad to have received that rather than nothing ; 
bat I freely say that I think the teaching now done in 
most of our institutions of higher learning is indefinitely 
superior to that formerly communicated. It is real, and 
not pedantic. That is, teachers to-day insist that pupils 
shall actually know something, and not know about some- 
thing. A lady once wrote to Professor Hiram Corson, of 
Cornell: " My dear Professor Corson, — I have been elected 
secretary of a Browning club and I am to prepare the 
first paper. We are to meet a week from to-night ; and 
I write you respectfully to inquire what I ought to read 
in order to get ready for this paper." Professor Corson 
wrote back : " Dear Madam : Yours received and contents 
duly noted. Read Browning." [Laughter.] Well, when 
I was in college we did not read Browning. We did not 
read Milton. We did not read Shakspere. Some of us 
were in doubt whether such persons ever lived. What 
did we read? A certain manual of English literature 
with a great many dates in it, not one of which I re- 
member, although I was very diligent in that department. 
It was somewhat so around the entire circle of alleged 
information presented to us. Instead of getting at the 
penetralia of things as pupils are made to do now by 
first-hand use of the library and in the seminary, we 
learned about things. This movement in the direction of 
reality in collegiate teaching is one in which I glory. 



ADDKESS. 197 

Begging the pardon of all for the desultory manner in 
which I have spoken, I conclude with the expression of 
my best wishes for the future of Union College, an institu- 
tion of learning for which I have the profoundest respect. 
They tell a story about what occurred when MacMahon, 
who was President of the French Republic, reviewed 
some cadets at one of the great French military schools. 
There was among the cadets a colored boy, who had been 
abused by some of his white comrades. Now there was 
to be a review and MacMahon was to come and inspect 
them. The friends of the negro said, " The colored cadet 
will get his rights now that the old man is here." As 
soon as the boys turned out upon parade, MacMahon spied 
the colored fellow and went straight for him. As he 
came in front the colored cadet stood at "Attention," 
straight as a string, and the President addressed him. 
He said, in the politest French, " Are you the colored 
gentleman?" And the cadet replied, "Yes, Mr. Presi- 
dent, I am." " Well," said the President of the French 
Republic, " continue to be so." [Laughter.] What, as a 
nursery of learning and character Union College has been 
up to this good day, that may Union College continue to 
be forever. [Applause.] 



13* 



ADDRESS 

BY PRESIDENT TAYLOR. 1 

MR. PRESIDENT, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am not 
so sure as President Scott is that I cannot say 
something about the " score," if necessary. That is not 
my subject this afternoon ; but if I had not been brought 
up somewhat in an athletic way and been more or less 
accustomed to some of these diversions, I have the for- 
tune, or misfortune, to have a son at present in a man's col- 
lege, and he plays base-ball. If my own training was 
deficient in my early days, I think I may possibly have 
been fortunate during the last three years. 

I greatly regret that I must stand in your presence 
this afternoon, for the reason that the place which I 
occupy was to be filled by President Clarke Seelye, of 
Smith, a graduate of Union College, who would have 
spoken, as would have been so eminently fitting, upon 
the growth of the woman's college during this century. 
I regret that you and I will not be able to listen to his 
paper upon this subject, which would have been so 
scholarly and so appropriate to this occasion. We know 
the deep sorrow which has fallen upon President Seelye 

1 President Taylor kindly consented, at very short notice, to fill the gap in 
the Educational Conference caused by the disability of President Seelye, of 
Smith College. He was, therefore, compelled to appear without manuscript 
or any considerable preparation. The following address is from a transcript 
of the notes of the reporter employed for the Centennial occasion. The 
Committee takes the entire responsibility of this publication. 



ADDKESS. 199 

in the loss of his son, and in the later loss of his brother, 
also an honored alumnus of Union College; and I am 
sure that our hearts all go out to him to-day in sym- 
pathy. I can only claim, — having been asked at a late 
hour to stand in his place to-day, — I can only claim a 
certain fitness as representing him as a friend, and also 
as representing another alumnus of Union College, the 
first active president of Vassar College, my own prede- 
cessor, President John H. Raymond; so that I feel, in 
standing before a Union College audience, as a friend of 
these men, so eminent in the education of woman, and 
as their representative, I may faintly express what they 
might have said so much better regarding the growth 
and progress of this great movement among women. I 
cannot, of course, speak, looking back over a century, of 
woman's education alone; for the woman's college has 
only entered upon the heritage that has been prepared 
for it during the progress of the century. As we look 
back upon the early days of Union, there is very little to 
see in the line of woman's education. The early days of 
the century suggest the small scope of the training of 
that day, in the branches of which Mrs. Adams tells us, 
reading, writing, and arithmetic, and for a favored few 
dancing and music ; they recall the time when the Bos- 
ton School Board closed its school, which had been open 
for a year to girls, because girls came in so much larger 
numbers than boys that it threatened the exchequer of 
the City of Boston, and to save their treasury they closed 
their high school against the girls ; they suggest the days 
when Emma Willard learned first the power of woman to 
master mathematics, — a pathetic tale it seems to me, — 
when she, who had been trained to believe in the compa- 
rative weakness of woman's mind, studied until she had 
mastered geometry and had been tested by a young stu- 
dent of Middlebury College, who lived in her family, as 
to her capacity to pass an examination. They carry us 



200 UNION COLLEGE. 

back to the days when Frances Power Cobb, that brilli- 
ant woman and brilliant thinker, was trained in one of 
the best schools in England, where education was such 
that it curbed both body and mind and stilled the soaring 
of the spirit ; the days when Emma Willard began a great 
work in Troy, and Mary Lyon opened a school at Holyoke 
whose work has gone out into every section of the globe ; 
and when Catherine Beecher founded a school at Hart- 
ford which produced such a profound impression in the 
country. All these were the gathering of the rills to- 
ward the fullness of the stream. As one watches the 
progress from those early times through our century, 
Oberlin and Antioch, Lombard, and Mary Sharp, and 
Macon, Iowa, and Alfred, admit women to the privileges 
provided for men or are specially founded for women, 
until Elmira is constituted, in 1859, as perhaps the high- 
est reach of them all for the express education of young 
women. It was not, however, until Mr. Vassar placed 
his fortune at the disposition of the trustees whom he 
had constituted a board for his new college for women, 
and made something like a sufficient provision, at that 
day, for the beginnings of a college, that these streams of 
influence culminated and a college was built which com- 
manded a position among the men's colleges of the coun- 
try, in virtue of its size, — which is always counted too 
largely in college matters — in virtue of its size and en- 
dowments and faculty. 

From that time on progress in the direction of higher 
education for women has been rapid. I shall not stop to 
review it. We know that hundreds of colleges for men 
have opened their doors to women. We know that there 
are four or five large colleges for women that are the 
equal of the best colleges for men, and the movement has 
gone on apace until a score of thousands of students are 
to-day enlisted in this higher education, and our larger 
universities (and many more of them will soon follow) 



ADDEESS. 201 

are opening their doors for the highest education attain- 
able for women as for men. Now I say that, in viewing 
this progress of women's education, we are to remember 
that the woman's college entered upon a heritage, and 
while we look back over a century to-day, it is only a 
third of a century that is really marked by the great 
movement that we entitle the higher education of wom- 
an. The rest of the period was one of preparation ; so 
that women's colleges have entered into a condition pre- 
pared for them by the general advance of educational 
theory and practice. Let me very briefly summarize 
what seem to me two or three leading lines in which the 
educational world has so changed from early times as to 
prepare a better opportunity of development for women's 
colleges. 

In the first place, within that time we have entered into 
the elective system of study. I say elective system of 
study, because it represents a principle; because it is a 
declaration, not of a mere liberty of choice as over against 
prescription, — never that, — but a declaration that, in 
paths of knowledge other than those which were believed 
the sole lines of education a quarter or a half century ago, a 
full development of the student may be gained as well as 
in the old. The elective system of study represents the 
vast advance of knowledge within our generation and the 
necessity of a new system if these valued lines of know- 
ledge are to be introduced into a college curriculum. It 
means, therefore, not necessarily an equal valuation of 
all studies for educational purposes, but that the edu- 
cated world will never again return to the belief that 
only one particular system of knowledge is worthy of 
being called liberal training. It means that in many 
different groups, and by many different preparations, a 
liberal training, in the large, free sense of that word, may 
be gained. Now, in the last quarter of a century this 
elective system of study has absolutely broken up the old 



202 UNION COLLEGE. 

American curriculum. The American college of twenty- 
five or thirty years ago, when this movement for woman's 
education began, was a quite well-defined institution. It 
had definite outlines, definite purposes. No man would 
claim to-day that there is much that is definite about the 
American college. It is, in fact, chaotic. It looks toward 
the high school on the one side and toward the university 
on the other ; it can hardly tell with which its relations 
are the closer, so developed has the high school become, 
and so far down has the university dipped into what 
most of us were coming to think the proper sphere of 
collegiate study. Now the American college undoubtedly 
will become a more definite institution between the high 
school and the university, and although one must proph- 
esy carefully and with due diffidence, this at least seems 
clear : the American college will be liberal in distinction 
from professional, its courses will be largely elective and 
increasingly broad, and while it will not admit the equal 
educational value of all studies, it will never again allow 
a single group to define the notion of a liberal education. 
Into this heritage, — a substantial gain in educational the- 
ory — the American womavfis college has entered. 

Now, in another aspect, it seems to me, a very consid- 
erable change has come over our institutions in a quarter 
of a century, and that is in the disciplinary aspect of col- 
lege life. President Andrews has spoken fully of that, and 
I will not dwell upon the subject more than simply to say 
that we men who were educated twenty-five or thirty or 
forty years ago are very likely to exaggerate the superi- 
ority of this later time. The discipline then was quite as 
good in the main, perhaps, as it is now ; but I think we 
may say, on the whole, that there has come to be a heart- 
ier and happier relationship between the student and the 
professor, and that it could not be said, perhaps, as com- 
monly as it might have been said once, in the language 



ADDEESS. 203 

of a famous professor of Brown University, that a profes- 
sor's life would be a very happy one if it were not for the 
student. There has come to be a far better relation gen- 
erally between the teacher and the taught ; but there are 
many of us who can look back and remember the men 
who taught us and impressed their ideals upon us, who 
held in their hands the conduct and discipline of the 
colleges, and say whether a half or a quarter of a century 
ago it was the man or the system that had most to do 
with the effect of our college life upon our after lives. 

In one other aspect, let me say, there has been a vast 
progress in our educational theory. Within that period 
has been the time of the growth of federation, of the re- 
cognition of the relationship of the various parts of our 
educational whole. Never before in the history of edu- 
cation, I believe, has there been so clear an understand- 
ing on the part of men interested in the various depart- 
ments of education, of their common interest; never a 
time certainly in American education when men have 
come to recognize so clearly that the school, the college, 
and the university must work hand in hand, that they 
must be in touch, the response of part to part ; and the 
most hopeful sign in the educational firmament of Amer- 
ica is the fact that all these educational parts are looking 
toward this unity, and men are beginning to recognize 
clearly that they do not labor in a college or a university 
or a high school or academy merely, but that they have 
part in a harmonious and correlated system of instruc- 
tion which is related to every interest of our common 
life. The committees that have been formed by a Na- 
tional Educational Association, the Committees of Ten 
and of Fifteen, have touched the life of the university 
and of the college, and the life of the school, and these 
are but signs of what is certain to come in far larger 
measure, with increased hope for the ordering of much 



204 UNION COLLEGE. 

of the chaos in our present educational system because 
we are appreciating the value of a unity founded in our 
common interest. 

It is into this heritage, into this threefold aspect of 
growth, that the woman's colleges have entered, and es- 
pecially the later colleges. The questions, then, this af- 
ternoon to be answered in few words are, What do the 
woman's colleges signify in this movement of a century ? 
What do they represent as influences in these directions 
of American thinking and practice ? 

What do they represent in the intellectual life of the 
American college ? To my own mind there are here two 
very manifest dangers. One of them has been briefly re- 
ferred to by my friend, Dr. Andrews ; it is the danger of 
intellectualism. That, however, is the danger from the side 
of the faculty — the danger of a simple intellectualism ; the 
forgetfulness that, after all, we are educating men. What- 
ever our teaching may be, and in whatever branch it may 
be, it certainly fails unless it somehow grips the soul of 
a man ; unless it makes him larger, fuller, with stronger 
purposes in life and better able to achieve them. After 
all, Rousseau was right when he said that " to live " was 
" the profession he would teach one." Whatever be its 
intellectual or other standards, the education that does 
not send out men and women better equipped for life 
is a failure. Now, it seems to me that, through the mere 
course of nature, through the action and reaction which 
are its inevitable law, we have come to put our emphasis 
a little too much, perhaps, in our college work upon the 
merely intellectual side of education. Doubtless a gen- 
eration ago there was a far lower intellectual ideal, and 
the need of putting more emphasis upon this aspect of 
our colleges was profoundly felt; and those of us who 
were in college a quarter of a century ago, I am sure, 
recognize the fact very clearly that there has been an 
immense advance, but, as in all human things, a one- 



ADDBESS. 205 

sided advance. The moral side needs emphasis, " moral " 
in its large, broad sense, the power that takes hold of 
the soul and the heart of a man and makes him intellec- 
tually earnest, and sincere., and progressive, as well as 
morally earnest. 

It seems to me, also, that there is another danger right 
over against the danger from the side of the faculty, and 
that is a danger from the student side of college life, the 
danger of too little intellectual earnestness and too little 
moral earnestness. No man rejoices more than I do in 
this progress in athletics. Let me say a word here, be- 
cause of what has just been said, and because I observe 
always in gatherings of men a tendency to the belief 
that athletics concern young men alone. Why, men and 
brethren, Vassar College started this work of physical 
education. Vassar College opened its doors to physical 
education in 1865, and physical education has been a 
feature of that institution ever since. We have had a 
well-equipped gymnasium for years, including a swim- 
ming-bath; we have a field for basket-ball and battle- 
ball ; we play tennis and golf ; we skate and we row, and 
we are familiar with the bicycle. I am inclined to think 
that if some of us of the stronger sex were compelled to 
follow some of these girls in their exercises in the gym- 
nasium, we should get very short of breath and weary in 
body before we had finished. These girls are not weak- 
lings by any means ; they keep fully abreast of the 
sterner sex in athletics of the proper kind. As I say, 
I rejoice in all these physical contests. I admire base- 
ball too, but do you know I can hardly recognize it as a 
college study? I ask myself now and then what would 
be thought by an unprejudiced observer from Mars if 
he should drop down upon some of our great univer- 
sities in the midst of the athletic season. It seems to 
me that there is grave danger here to American educa- 
tion. I believe in athletics; I believe in base-ball and 



206 UNION COLLEGE. 

to a degree in foot-ball ; in the foot-ball that is played 
on the foot-ball field and not in the newspapers by college 
correspondents, and with the tongue. But I am sure that 
the educated American people are awakening to the be- 
lief that there is a danger here, a danger that the intel- 
lectual tone of our colleges and universities is suffering. 
I know it to be true in large measure, and that the un- 
prejudiced observer, if he were to visit several of our 
large universities, would have reason to question whe- 
ther, side by side with this athletic education, they were 
also sufficiently gripping their men intellectually and mak- 
ing of them good men and citizens. For I do believe 
that the first business of a college is the making of good 
men after all, men who know how to think (that is the 
great difference between men as life goes on — the power 
to think clearly, accurately, strongly), and then to act; 
and the college that is not doing that is failing at the 
main point of college education, no matter what its 
base-ball team can do, or how its- foot-ball record stands. 
[Applause.] 

Now I ask what are the women's colleges doing in the 
face of these two opposite dangers that threaten American 
education ? I believe that they are standing for a health- 
ful mean ; that they are emphasizing as much and as 
clearly as any colleges in America the intellectual side of 
education, and that their health record will compare with 
the best of our American institutions ; that they are watch- 
ing the physical side and are watching the intellectual 
side also. And this needs to be said, — will you allow me 
to say it? — it needs to be said with emphasis to an audi- 
ence even of college men. I took up a journal a few 
months ago, one of the leading papers of America, which 
had reviewed the catalogue of the college which I serve. 
It was an admirable editorial ; respectful with that degree 
of respect which men are in our later years beginning to 
show to women's colleges. It was evidently by a practised 



ADDEESS. 207 

hand. It took up the essential features of our college 
curriculum, and dwelt upon them with skill. It compared 
our curriculum with those of colleges for men, and showed 
that it stood equally well, so far as the catalogue was con- 
cerned. And then it raised this question : If the women's 
colleges are doing this work as it is printed in their cata- 
logues, then who shall say that they are not doing equally 
well with the best of our colleges for men ? That is a 
question which is raised continually, and surprisingly. 
In the college which I represent there are in our fac- 
ulty graduates of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, and 
Michigan, and of several of the smaller colleges ; we have 
among the men of our faculty representatives, too, of the 
larger universities, such as Johns Hopkins, and of several 
of the European universities ; and our women represent 
the best of the women's colleges, and some of them also 
have worked in the European universities as well as in 
those of our own land. Now is it possible (and in this 
regard Vassar is only a type of the faculties of the wo- 
men's colleges in general) — is it possible that a body of 
men and women who are thus products of the best in- 
stitutions of America do not know what good education 
is? And is it possible that they work along together 
year after year with ideals clear, and knowing what 
education means, and do not hold up the level as high 
as that of any other institution in the land? Let me 
say plainly, as a man (I speak as a man), let me say 
that as I have worked with both men and women I have 
been struck by this, that when it comes to holding fast 
to an ideal, it is the woman who hews to the line. (Ap- 
plause.) I say that with no depreciation of man's work 
or of man's high ideals ; but it is in the nature of woman, 
it is what you call conscience in her; it is what makes 
woman more religious, and, as a rule, more faithful to the 
ordinary duties of life. And carrying that into education, 
what does it mean ? It means that your girls cannot slip 



208 UNION COLLEGE. 

through. Sometimes your boys do. It means that your 
girls cannot be absent from the college week after week, 
that they cannot cut here and cut there and still main- 
tain their standard of scholarship. It would be absolutely 
impossible, I think, for any average student to be absent 
from college as much as some of our teams in the larger 
colleges are absent, and do the work which is required in 
women's colleges. I speak very plainly, men and breth- 
ren, because I wish to emphasize the answer to the question 
to which I am set to speak, — what are women's colleges 
doing for education in this last quarter of the century? — 
and I sum up this point with the declaration that I be- 
lieve that there is no educational work done in our col- 
leges anywhere in America that is more fairly set in the 
face of a high ideal than that of the colleges for women. 
Their curricula are the equals of those of our best colleges 
for men ; their faculties have no reason to lift their hats 
to the faculties of other institutions, save as a matter of 
fraternal courtesy ; and they are holding their ideals and 
pressing toward them. 

Now, in a few words let me speak of that second point, 
the standard of discipline. I believe that the women's 
colleges are contributing something to the ideals of col- 
lege government. It does not seem to me that in this 
respect we have grown very rapidly in the last few years, 
notwithstanding the better relation between the teachers 
and the taught. The old ideal of college government 
still prevails in the major number of our American col- 
leges. It involves the largest possible liberty on the part 
of the student and the occasional interference on the part 
of the faculty; at least that seems to me the case as I 
study it. It was the case in the college in which I was 
educated, though we had at the head of it one of the 
first men of our generation in education. It has been 
true of the men's colleges with which I have been asso- 
ciated rather intimately for the last few years. I see it as 



ADDEESS. 209 

I watch the government of some of our larger colleges, the 
combined college-university, which we are calling univer- 
sities in our days, — that perfect freedom, a freedom that 
we tolerate almost nowhere else in the world in our 
young men, limited only by occasional interference on 
the part of the faculty. But the idea of an independent 
body of students ruled by principle and by honor has 
spread very slowly among our men's colleges in America. 
Now, is not that true ? I know the Amherst plan and it 
stands almost alone ; but in our women's colleges there is 
a general tendency to trust the students, to establish for 
them certain standards of conduct, and to leave the en- 
forcement of these to the principle of honor. When I 
was at Amherst a few years ago, I said to my friend, 
President Grates, as we walked out of the chapel after 
service, " What are those young men around here ? " 
He replied, " Those are monitors." Said I, " Are they 
part of your self-government system?" He replied. 
"Well, we have to have our monitors. That is part of 
the system." Self-government as it is carried on in our 
women's colleges involves no monitors. It means honor. 
It means that certain principles of conduct are set up for 
the student body by the faculty, and the student body 
agrees to enforce them. Attendance at college chapel is 
one of the matters thus left with the students ; the mat- 
ter of compulsory exercise, which seems so absurd in 
most men's colleges and which is getting to be very ab- 
surd in the women's college, but which used to be so nec- 
essary, is another; the matter of retiring at some defi- 
nite time, which seems also unnecessary at men's colleges, 
unless a man is training and has to do something, iu 
which case he goes to bed at a stated and sensible hour, 
constitutes a third. These cases are left absolutely 
to the honor of the students. Now, men and brethren, is 
not that a step forward, and is it a step which cannot be 
taken by our colleges for young men ? Is it possible that 
14 



210 UNION COLLEGE. 

young men cannot be trusted ? Is it possible that they 
have not honor enough to sustain the law? I do not 
believe that they cannot be trusted to look after their 
own conduct in these matters. Ever since I have known 
anything of the self-governing principle, I have always 
said that it might be tried just as well in our colleges for 
men as in our colleges for women, and that young men 
might be educated to feel that it is more dangerous to 
face the condemnation of their own conscience than that 
of any college faculty ; and until our young men are edu- 
cated to that level by our colleges it seems to me that the 
colleges are not progressing as they should. This is the 
contribution of our women's colleges to the last quarter 
of a century in the matter of government. I do not 
mean that this system of self-government has never been 
known outside of them : I mean that it is the whole tendency 
in them. I am told that at West Point, where I suppose 
boys are no better than they are in other places, the one 
thing that will never be forgiven a man is a lie ; and in 
the case of mischief in a class-room, where the professor 
asked, " Did you do that ? " and the guilty man said, " No, 
sir," the class gathered about the man after recitation, 
and said, "Unless you go and confess that lie, we will 
cut you. We '11 have no lying at West Point." Now 
whether that be true or not, — and it only comes to me as 
a report, — it ought to be true in every association of 
young men and young women that a lie is recognized as 
the very meanest of sins. A lie, as Kant said, is the 
abandonment of one's own personality; and certainly in 
this matter of government our colleges ought to be doing 
what they can to lead young men to live by their honor, 
and to recognize the governance of high principle. If the 
colleges for men would say to their students, " Here are 
certain principles of conduct which are necessary because 
we are gathered here and related as a common body with 
common interests and aims: will you enforce them?" I 



ADDEESS. 211 

believe that the young men could be absolutely trusted to 
enforce them — not every young man, — no society was 
ever as perfect as that, — but enough young men to make 
it more perilous for the offender than any college faculty 
can make it. 

Let me say, finally, that I think the women's colleges 
•are contributing something in our generation to the set- 
tlement of the vexed question of the relation between the 
college and the university. That question is not all on 
one side. The universities have quite as much to answer 
for in this present educational chaos as have the colleges ; 
but I believe the women's colleges are at least doing 
something to attempt to solve the question. There are 
two tendencies among the leading women's colleges. One 
of them is represented by the emphasis on graduate 
work; the other is represented by the belief that the 
American universities are absolutely bound to open their 
doors to women, for graduate courses, — that it is inevit- 
able that the progress of another generation wiil turn 
aside the obstructions that still stand in the way of the 
complete opening of all graduate work to women. In the 
light of that belief, the other tendency in women's col- 
leges to which I refer is to emphasize the college work 
with opportunities for a single year of graduate study, 
leading to the master's degree, but with the general aim 
to send its students to the large universities as soon as 
they have finished the undergraduate course. These two 
tendencies have been promulgated and definitely held; 
there is no drifting in the matter; and I am sure that 
you will all agree with me that the tendencies of most 
American colleges on this great question are to drift and 
to wait; while at least some of these women's colleges 
have faced this question definitely. The trustees of one 
of them have put their emphasis on graduate work ; the 
trustees of another have put their emphasis on under- 
graduate work, and have withdrawn from the catalogue 



212 UNION COLLEGE. 

the offer of the doctor's degree and have decided that 
students who desire that must go to the larger univer- 
sities. 

Here, then, are the contributions that occur to me as 
having been made by women's colleges during the last 
quarter of a century toward the general tendencies of ed- 
ucation in American colleges. Their battle is well won.. 
It has been no sudden conquest. It has been a battle, I 
repeat, which these women's colleges have been waging 
to get the mere right of recognition ; but to-day they do 
not plead ; to-day thejr stand hand in hand with the best 
of the colleges for men ; to-day they claim equality ; to- 
day they turn out results that are fully equal to the best 
of those from the colleges for men ; and all that can be 
hoped for is that just as the best colleges for men have 
held their faces toward the future, so these colleges for 
women shall press on and on, ever looking toward the 
highest and never satisfied. 

[An animated discussion followed, in which President Scott, Principal 
D. C. Farr, Hon. Melvil Dewey, Dr. Thomas E. Bliss, Dr. Win. H. Maxwell, 
and others participated. After adjournment an Athletic Contest was con- 
ducted on the College Oval.] 



^durational Conference, 

EVENING SESSION. 

SUBJECT, THE UNIVEKSITY. 

Pkesident Gilman, of Johns Hopkins Univeksity, 
presiding. 

PRESIDENT GILMAN, in taking the chair, referred 
to the distinguished services that the graduates of 
Union College have rendered to Church and State, and 
congratulated the authorities in having brought hither, 
on this centennial anniversary, so many leaders of educa- 
tion in widely separated States. A special service has 
been rendered to American culture by setting apart one 
day to consider what places in the educational system of 
the United States belong to the school, the college, and 
the university. When these three stages are generally 
recognized and their work kept distinct, there will be less 
waste of force, less duplication, greater progress, richer 
results. 

We may say in a few brief phrases that the school stands 
for that which is essential to the training of the citizens 
of a republic ; that the college stands for liberal education, 
an introduction to the nobler lessons of history, language, 
science, and philosophy; while the university stands partly 
for the advancement of knowledge, and partly for profes- 

14* 213 



214 UNION COLLEGE. 

sional training and the preparation of young scholars for 
those manifold pursuits of modern life, which are depen- 
dent upon an advanced knowledge of the laws of nature 
or of the history of human thought. The conception of 
a university, as distinct from a college, has of late years 
been growing more and more obvious in this country, and 
accordingly the speakers invited for this evening have 
been chosen from certain new foundations in which the 
effort is making to work out these fundamental ideas, 
free from the fetters of precedent and custom. 

Let us take it for granted that in developing the idea 
of the American University, each institution will have its 
distinctive character. Our highest seminaries will not be 
organized under a national government, as universities 
are organized under European governments ; but each 
will grow up in its own environment, and proceed with 
its own work, according to the means it possesses and 
with due regard to what is in progress elsewhere. We 
may take it for granted, also, that the American Univer- 
sity will stand upon the American College, so that what- 
ever changes may be introduced in the latter, — although 
greater wealth may provide more ample facilities, and 
even greater freedom may provide more varied courses of 
study and opportunities of wider choice, — the American 
people will still preserve the fundamental characteristics 
of the American College. This " college " idea was intro- 
duced by the earliest colonists in Massachusetts, Connec- 
ticut, and Virginia, and it has spread from one State to 
another, until it is now recognized in every part of the 
land. It provides for a liberal introductory training in 
the arts and sciences, designed at once for those who go 
forward into the so-called "professions," for those who 
enter upon the scientific and professorial vocations of 
modern times, and for those who proceed at once to the 
pursuits of active business. Those who are striving for 
the development of the university idea generally believe 



ADDRESS. 215 

in the doctrine that it should be associated with the de- 
velopment of the college idea. The distinction between 
collegiate and university methods is therefore maintained. 
College education is chiefly didactic. The master trains 
the pupil. The college means discipline, and the forma- 
tion of character, the preparation of youth for intelligent, 
useful, honorable lives. University education is freer. 
The teacher leads his pupils, awakens in them the love of 
research, and at once suggests, inspires, and guides their 
investigations. It prepares for professional life by pre- 
cept, example, opportunities, criticisms, and encourage- 
ments ; and it includes, among professions, the manifold 
vocations which have been developed in modern society 
by the progress of science. Moreover, the university en- 
gages directly in the advancement of knowledge, and car- 
ries the torch of inquiry into the border-lands of darkness 
or obscurity. 

[The speaker then proceeded to illustrate the modern 
process of research by reference to the study of the nature 
of light, the analysis of the solar and stellar spectra, the 
measurement of wave-lengths, and the coincidence of 
certain phenomena of electricity and light. A second 
illustration was taken from the domain of philology, and 
and especially from the study of the Sacred Scriptures. 
"A large part of the questions of interpretation which dis- 
turb in these days the Christian Church can never be de- 
termined by popular assemblies, but only by the quiet, 
careful, accurate, learned studies of the scholars of the 
world." A third illustration was found in the latest 
phases of biological science, the study of bacteria, and 
the experimental study of psychology.] 

These and many other examples are indications of the 
highest work of the modern university, — the patient, pro- 
longed, unselfish cooperation of gifted men, well trained 
for investigation, freed from pecuniary anxiety, and 
quickened to exertion both by the atmosphere in which 



216 UNION COLLEGE. 

they live, and by the comments to which they are exposed. 
Such work as this, pregnant with benefits to mankind, can 
only be carried forward by universities. What private 
institution, what high school, what college, can undertake 
with any prospect of success these difficult tasks ? 

These introductory words must not be expanded. They 
are only intended to awaken your interest in the addresses 
of the speakers now to be presented. 

I am obliged to announce that President Harper, of the 
University of Chicago, has been prevented from appearing 
here this evening by reason of his ill health. A telegraphic 
message has been received from him saying that by the 
advice of his physician he does not dare to undertake the 
journey ; but he has sent to us one of his worthiest col- 
leagues, well qualified to speak upon the subject of uni- 
versities, — Professor Hale, a graduate of Harvard, once a 
professor of Cornell University, now of the University of 
Chicago, and soon to be Professor Hale of the American 
School of Archaeology established in Rome. I have, my 
friends, great pleasure in introducing to you Professor 
William Gk Hale, of the Chair of Latin in the University 
of Chicago. 



ADDRESS 

BY PROFESSOR WILLIAM GARDNER HALE. 

IADIES AND GENTLEMEN: In the brief paper 
J which I am about to read, it is not my purpose to 
address myself primarily to members of my own profes- 
sion who are themselves conducting graduate work. My 
aim is rather, in discussing the subject of graduate study 
before an audience brought together by interest in the 
highest university teaching, but presumably made up in 
considerable part of persons who are themselves engaged 
in other occupations, to try to make clear how, and under 
what influences, graduate work arose in this country, what 
are its characteristic aims, and what, in a general way, is 
the nature of its methods. 

One more thing also needs to be premised. Wherever 
I am obliged to speak of details, I shall take them from 
my own department. This must not be understood to 
mean an undue sense of the importance of that depart- 
ment, but rather a due sense of the importance of the 
cobbler's keeping to his last, if he desires to speak with 
any authority. 

It is a commonplace that there are men still living who 
have witnessed most of the really great advances in in- 
vention that have been achieved since the days of the 
Roman Empire. The successful application of the prin- 
ciple of the steam-engine to the steamboat, the railway, 
and the factory ; the invention of the telegraph, the elec- 

217 



218 UNION COLLEGE. 

trie light, the telephone, the typewriter, and, — latest, 
though surely not least, — that miraele of motion, that 
friend of both sexes and all ages, the bicycle, — all this 
falls within the last ninety years. The nineteenth cen- 
tury is characterized by its creative power in the material 
world. 

As great a change has taken place, and that within the 
life of some of us who will not yet own up to being old, 
in all departments of university work. An excellent 
training was afforded in our colleges twenty-five and 
thirty years ago ; and perhaps this training had certain 
aims, a certain governing conception of the cultivated 
gentleman, as well as of the scholar, which it would be 
dangerous for us to leave behind. But there is no ques- 
tion that the attitude of mind to which it led was too 
often the recipient and passive attitude. The phrase 
"book-learning" alone would not describe it, but the 
phrase " book-learning and culture," if the latter word be 
used in the ordinary narrow sense, would for too many 
colleges fairly characterize it. To-day the aim of univer- 
sity education is very different. Whether the student 
may or may not attain to the rank of inventor in the 
world of intellectual activities, he at least knows that he 
may set his aim as high as this, and that nothing but im- 
perfection of endowment need stand in his way. 

This change is the result of the natural growth of the 
scholarship of our American professors, under the influ- 
ence, of course, of the general intellectual advancement 
of the country, and the accompanying interest in the 
work of the Old World. The first of our American schol- 
ars to be led to Europe by this interest was George Tick- 
nor, of Harvard, who became a student at Grdttingen in 
1815, and returned full of plans for the development of 
the university ; which plans he was not destined to see 
realized. Ticknor was far in advance of his day. A 
group of men, some thirty-five years later, — i. e., in the fif- 



ADDEESS. 219 

ties, — followed in his footsteps, met with better fortunes, 
and have the honor of having contributed largely to the 
new scholarship of America. I have in mind such men as 
Whitney, of Yale ; Gildersleeve, of Johns Hopkins ; Good- 
win, Child, and Laue, of Harvard. These men found in 
Germany a different conception from that which they had 
seen governing college work in this country. The pro- 
fessors whose lectures they attended were not occupying 
themselves with teaching what had been handed down 
by the fathers, but were putting all received opinion to 
the proof, and, iu consequence of the clarified vision and 
the heightened power which they gained in the labor of 
examination, were discovering and establishing what had 
not before been known. And they were training their 
followers to do the same thing ; for the student absorbed 
the spirit, and caught the method, of his master. The re- 
sult was that these young Americans brought home to 
the professorships which they were destined to fill in this 
country a new conception of the function of a university. 
And their conception gradually spread to others, finding, 
indeed, a ready welcome in the miud of many a man who 
had not crossed the ocean. 

The moment the new way of looking at things began 
to gather strength, it would naturally bring with it a 
continuance of study beyond the allotted four years ; for 
the new kind of scholarship would be possible of attain- 
ment only to men who had gone much beyond the point 
to which the four years of the college course, as then con- 
stituted, could carry them. So far as my knowledge goes, 
the first graduate study, in the modern sense of the word, 
was established, late in the sixties, at Harvard and Yale. 
At both places a few men offered advanced instruction, 
and a few graduates remained to take it. But the work 
was by no means organized. The instructors of the col- 
lege were already overburdened, and no adequate pro- 
vision could be made for the needs of the new class of 



220 UNION COLLEGE. 

students, who accordingly had to do what they could, 
with only imperfect guidance. A considerable impetus, 
however, was soon given through the institution of fel- 
lowships, first offered at Harvard, if I remember rightly, 
in 1869, and soon reaching a respectable number, with 
good incomes attached. Inasmuch, too, as most of these 
fellowships, on account of the unsatisfactory state of 
things in America, were especially created for the pur- 
pose of non-resident study, — which at that time was 
synonymous with study in Germany, — new leaven was 
constantly being brought into the country. 

At the time we have now reached, about the middle of 
the seventies, the Johns Hopkins University was organ- 
ized. With the greatest wisdom, its managers seized 
upon the new conception, and, using it as a foundation, 
built upon it a famous structure, the services of which to 
American education can never be forgotten. They made 
the graduate school the university, the undergraduate de- 
partment being, at the outset, of little consequence, and 
indeed, in the opening year, hardly existent. With this 
complete change in the placing of the emphasis of their 
attention, they were enabled to address themselves di- 
rectly to the problems of the organization and develop- 
ment of advanced work. Their example and their suc- 
cess stimulated graduate study in places where it had 
begun, and helped to evoke it in places where it had not 
begun. To-day it is to be found in many universities, in 
some existing in little more than name, in several existing 
in spirit and in truth. 

The aims of this work I have already characterized. 
But you will bear with me if I attempt to throw them 
into sharper relief through a more detailed description 
of what takes place when a body of students is gathered 
together about a group of specialists. 

It is generally found that the men who come up to a 



AEDEESS. 221 

given university for graduate study have two kinds of de- 
ficiencies. First, deficiencies of quantity are likely to exist. 
In a given language, for example, graduates of the smaller 
colleges and universities have generally read less of the 
literature than they would have done if they had taken 
their undergraduate course in the larger university to 
which they come for further work. It is necessary, there- 
fore, to give them this fuller reading, which they will 
take side by side with the more advanced undergrad- 
uates. Further, it is generally found that the work they 
have done has been of a less severe character than the 
ideals of the larger university demand, — that they are 
less exact in their methods, less to be trusted when set to 
find out precisely what, e. g., a given author says upon a 
given page, than students who have had four years of the 
generally sterner training of the larger institution. But, 
even for the graduate of the larger university, a wider ac- 
quaintance with his elected field, and a more rigorous 
exactness of work in that field, are always necessary. In 
two points, then, the graduate student must always be 
set to bettering his equipment, — in point of quantity and 
in point of quality. This may be called the preliminary 
training of the graduate school. 

Secondly, alongside of this preliminary training in 
many cases, and early in graduate study, at any rate, 
the training is entered upon which is especially designed 
to call out any inventive powers, any powers of true dis- 
covery and production, with which nature may have 
gifted the candidate. The methods chosen will vary 
somewhat in different departments; but the brief de- 
scription which I shall give of the method that seems to 
me the sound one in work with which I am familiar will 
certainly afford a true picture, so far as the controlling 
spirit is concerned, for other departments as well. 

First, however, let me say that there are certain sine 



222 UNION COLLEGE. 

qua nons for successful work of this kind. These are as 
follows : 

To begin with, the student must be gifted by nature 
with a certain amount of the celestial fire. Like the poet, 
the successful graduate student must be both born and 
made. In the case of either vocation, a stern self -training 
may possibly replace the training that should have been 
given by others of more intimate experiences; but the 
being-to-the-manner-born is indispensable. 

The second prerequisite is of almost the same supreme 
importance, though it is often sadly left out of the reckon- 
ing. Our great, good-natured public is disposed to think 
that a professor is a professor, just as a street-organ is a 
street-organ, with the distinction only that some profes- 
sors, like some organs, perform more agreeably than others. 
It is the common idea that all that needs be done in order 
to convert a college into a true university is to give its 
professors graduate work, by getting somebody else to do 
the undergraduate work. As well might you hope to 
succeed if, in a factory, you were to replace an inventor 
by a skilled superintendent. Luck might be with you, 
but the dice are loaded the other way. One must, there- 
fore, be skeptical at times when a college or university 
suddenly announces the establishment of a graduate 
school. One wants to ask, "Where are your specialists 
and creative workers ? What publications have they con- 
tributed to science ? " It is the common supposition that 
every college professor is a specialist. In truth, compara- 
tively few are, in the modern sense of the word. I re- 
member well a cultivated clergyman's saying to me in 
my college days, with an air of some regret, that he sup- 
posed scholarship had gone so far that it was no longer 
possible for a man to command the whole of human know- 
ledge. I smiled, with the complacency of youth, at his 
conception of scholarship. But to-day the actual state of 
affairs is too serious to admit of any smiling. In every 



ADDEESS. 223 

direction, investigation has been pushed so fai' that sub- 
jects once thought to constitute a specialty are now re- 
garded as groups of specialties. Anatomy and physiology 
would, not long ago, have been supposed to come easily 
within the field of the biologist, — or, at any rate, they would 
have been thought of as lying too close together for any 
separation from each other. Yet to-day they are being 
recognized as separate departments, on the ground that 
each forms so distinct and so great a specialty that no 
man can be a leader in both. Precisely the same thing 
is actually the case, though without resulting separation, 
with many subjects thought of by the public as one and 
indivisible. See, for example, what is covered by such 
a department as Latin. The public has already learned 
to think of archaeology as something separate, and is be- 
ginning to think of comparative philology as separate; 
but it does not suspect that comparative philology com- 
prises two subjects, comparative phonetics and compara- 
tive syntax, entirely distinct from each other, and each 
so vast that no man living can be master in both. And 
it does not suspect that the field of what would be called 
Latin proper, for instance, covers a wide range of sub- 
jects, — a great and extended literature, to know the com- 
pass and development and principles of interpretation of 
which, as things are to-day studied, is in itself a life-task; 
further, Roman law ; further, Roman public adminis- 
tration; then again Roman religion, which is almost 
as distinct from Roman literature as, in the nineteenth 
century, theology is from English literature ; further, 
Roman private life; further, epigraphy; further, paleo- 
graphy ; and, finally, textual criticism, which bears upon 
both paleography and the science of interpretation, or 
hermeneutics. In every one of these fields many men 
in different parts of the world, — in Germany, in Italy, in 
Russia, in Denmark, in Norway and Sweden, in Holland, 
in France, in England, and in America, — are constantly 



224 UNION COLLEGE. 

working and publishing. It is a difficult task to keep up 
with what is done even for the interpretation of one par- 
ticular author, — if he belongs to the more important class, 
— so much is being turned out by the press. And the 
case is the same in every field. Books are constantly 
appearing, and dissertations and other monographs of 
various kinds. The monthly list of such publications is 
formidable. But this is only a part. In addition, there 
are journals, so numerous that the popular periodicals 
in this country are few by comparison. There are two 
weeklies solely devoted to classics, besides some four or 
five other weeklies which are sure to contain classical ar- 
ticles that cannot be overlooked by the specialist. Then, 
solely devoted to classics, there is a bi-weekly, there are 
eight quarterlies, and there are eleven monthlies. In ad- 
dition, there are the papers of many learned societies, 
some meeting annually, some of tener ; and there are the 
various series of studies of universities, already above half 
a dozen in number, and destined to be added to. I count 
up something like forty philological publications, every 
one of which ought to be watched by an advanced worker, 
that he may overlook nothing of the material belonging 
to his particular specialty that is scattered through this 
great mass. It makes the head ache and the heart fail to 
stop to think of it ; and yet, without this sweep of activ- 
ity, which is like the rush of a great city, life would be a 
comparatively dull thing to a man of the specialist type. 
But you see the necessary inference which is to be drawn 
from the mention of this mass of production. Latin, 
Greek, history, biology, chemistry, are to-day no longer 
specialties, — they are each a group of specialties, often 
only remotely related to one another. To say, then, that 
a man is a specialist in Latin, or a specialist in history, 
is to say almost nothing about his equipment. He must 
have a certain knowledge of most of the general province 
in which he works ; but, in addition, he must have an ex- 



ADDKESS. 225 

tended and minute knowledge of what has been done and 
what is doing in some one field in that province. This, 
then, is the second condition of successful graduate work. 
It is not sufficient that the professed leader of it should 
be an estimable gentleman ; he must have the knowledge 
of a specialist, in the severest sense of the word. 

The third condition is still harder to meet. The leader 
of graduate students must not merely be a leader as to- 
ward them, while as toward the masters in his craft he is 
but a follower. He must himself be a master, or have 
the blood of mastery stirring in him. In this country, as 
in Germany, the professor that professes graduate work 
should be a man whose forum is, or at any rate is evi- 
dently soon to be, the world of scholars, the world over, in 
his province. This means that he must have the power 
of scientific divination. His scholarship must not be of 
the recipient type, but of the creative. 

But the power of divination in itself is not all. The 
successful worker has a fascinating, but a severe, life. He 
must be possessed not only of insight, but of the power 
of long and strenuous labor, that looks through many 
years to an end. And to be able to spend this absolutely 
necessary labor upon the field of his intended successes, 
he must have leisure from much teaching and from much 
executive work. Hardly a man in America yet has this 
in any degree which to a European scholar would seem 
tolerable. 

We have now seen the four requisites of true graduate 
work of the highest kind, — one for the student, three for 
the professor : for the student some measure of the divine 
afflatus within the breast ; for the professor, first, a com- 
manding knowledge of a specialty, in the strictest sense ; 
second, creative power ; and third, leisure for creative 
work. 

President Grilman is reported once to have said that, in 
order to found a university, all you had to do was to get a 
15 



226 UNION COLLEGE. 

professor of Greek and a professor of mathematics; mean- 
ing thereby, of course, not that these two subjects were 
all that needed to be provided for, but that men were 
wanted first, and brick and mortar only secondarily. 
Adopting his form of statement, one may say that for a 
seminary, the theater of the highest graduate work, only 
two things are needed, a student of dormant creative 
power and a professor of active creative performance. 
But what is a seminary ? At the end of a long sitting of 
a convention at Albany a few years ago, some one rose 
and said : " I thank heaven that this day's discussion has 
at last shown me what a seminary is. A seminary ap- 
pears to be a long table." The description is incomplete, 
but it is very good as far as it goes. The long table, 
about which the professor and his students sit side by 
side and on the same physical level, is the visible symbol 
of an aim and a method. James Russell Lowell, in my 
student days, once addressed his audience of undergrad- 
uates as "gentlemen and fellow-students." The words 
meant a great deal, and characterized the spirit that has 
gradually developed a true university out of the college 
of John Harvard. And yet it is very difficult to feel 
yourself the fellow-student and co-worker of a man who 
sits above you on a high platform. The long table 
means, or should mean, a true fellowship. It means the 
admission of the student to all the privileges of the pro- 
fessor's craft and to partnership in the professor's own 
investigations. The professor will, if he follows the 
course which seems to me the only true one, lead his 
students into the field of his own most advanced work. 
He will first have to stay with them some time at the en- 
trance, giving them conceptions of methods of explora- 
tion, past and present, of dangers to be avoided, and of 
help to be obtained. Then he will carry them on to some 
of the simpler problems which he has himself solved, or 
thinks he has solved, and of which the solutions are not 



ADDBESS. 227 

yet printed ; or perhaps he will set them to test opposing 
solutions that have been propounded in the past by dif- 
ferent investigators, or to test solutions in the current 
journals. In the doing of this work, and in the discus- 
sion that follows around the " long table," the members 
of the seminary will gradually gain points of view, and 
come to understand the general nature of procedure in 
the collection and use of evidence. And finally, the 
teacher will lead his students straight on into the unex- 
plored or half-explored country in which he is himself 
working, showing them where he himself has run against 
a precipice, or where he is entangled in a jungle. In the 
course of time, — for this is not a rapid process, to be un- 
dertaken for completion within a definite period under 
contract, — the powers of the student unfold. He reaches 
his intellectual majority, and becomes capable of going 
on without a hand to guide him, of finding a field and 
turning explorer for himself. The fruits of his indepen- 
dent investigation, if he succeeds in accomplishing such 
a thing, are shown in a thesis forming an actual contri- 
bution to existing knowledge. He is then rigidly ex- 
amined on the subject of this special work, and, less rig- 
idly, in the various fields of his general province ; after 
which, if successful, he is admitted to the noble army of 
doctors, — that is, of men intellectually equipped for 
teaching. 

But what of the people who, with the best of desires 
and with good ability in many ways, prove not to have 
been gifted by nature with the creative power ! They 
generally themselves recognize the fact before they come 
to the final steps, or it is pointed out to them by their 
teachers ; and they are then obliged to rest content with 
the intermediate degree of Master, — an honorable and 
very desirable degree in itself, recording the fact that the 
holder has shown scholarly aptitude and the possession 
of a considerable knowledge in some department of work, 



228 UNION COLLEGE. 

but not implying that he has evinced creative power. 
But the labor of these students, who have desired the 
highest of a certain kind and have not reached it, is by no 
means lost. They have gained in their range of know- 
ledge and in their intellectual sympathies and apprecia- 
tions. To have done graduate work makes life better 
for them, just as to have had an undergraduate course 
makes life better for any man, whether he is going into a 
profession, into business, or into neither. 

For those, on the other hand, who have succeeded, 
graduate work leads to a new source of power and a new 
inspiration. It furnishes something that makes the in- 
tellectual life doubly worth living. The teacher who is 
only a teacher may possibly be a good teacher, but his 
days are uneventful. He knows nothing of the pleasure 
of the search, nothing of the joy of discovery, nothing of 
the — at least — stimulating disappointment of failure. 

I have endeavored, then, to make clear what the essen- 
tial character of graduate work is. The limits of time 
will permit me only to restate formally two necessary in- 
ferences already glanced at, which are to be drawn from 
that character. These are as follows : 

First, our American colleges and universities can rise 
from their imperfect condition and gain a recognition for 
scholarship not now accorded to them, only through the 
spread of the spirit of creative work. The best conveyor 
of a spirit is a man who is animated with it. This means 
that, in the appointment of instructors to fill vacant 
posts, those young men and young women should receive 
the preference who, besides being gentlemen and gentle- 
women, — the first of all requirements for a teacher, — 
have given clear proof of being so animated. 

Secondly, the attempt should not be made to establish 
graduate schools at many places. The graduate school is 
difficult to equip, both because it is hard to find, for its 
teachers, men who have themselves done creative work 



ADDEESS. 229 

of recognized value, and because it is prodigiously ex- 
pensive to set aside the labor of these men for the in- 
struction of a comparatively small number of students. 
What all but ten or twelve, at the utmost, of the universi- 
ties of this country ought in the present century to do 
is to undertake the task, not of conducting graduate 
work, but of carrying into the undergraduate courses as 
much as possible of the independence of thought and 
severity of method which characterize true graduate 
work, and so of better equipping their students, whether 
for a graduate school elsewhere, for professional study, or 
for immediate entrance into active life. 

President Gilman said: 

Another phase of the university question will next be presented 
to us by the President of Clark University, who is always wel- 
come in assemblages like this, not merely because of the high 
station that he holds, but because he has made his life-work the 
study of mind and the laws of pedagogy. I will also add that 
the third speaker of the evening, Chancellor MacCracken, has 
not appeared and will not speak this evening, so that the next 
speaker will be the last. If you are disappointed in hearing that 
Chancellor MacCracken will not address you, I will say for your 
consolation that I counted up the number of addresses that are to 
be delivered here in the next three days and found there were 
forty-seven, besides some occasions at which speakers will appear 
whose names are not now known. You are sure to be rewarded 
by listening to an address by Dr. G-. Stanley Hall, of Clai'k Uni- 
versity, in Worcester. 



15* 



ADDRESS 

BY PRESIDENT HALL. 

MR. CHAIRMAN, Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentle- 
men : Half of an address on an occasion like this is 
the introduction of the speaker, and I am very fortunate 
in the introduction which has just been given me, com- 
paratively so at least; for I would rather be the forty- 
seventh man who, President Giluian says, is to address 
you before this celebration is ended, than to be introduced 
as I was only a few weeks ago to an academic audience a 
good ways west of the Missouri River. I arrived at the 
place where I was to speak a little late and, as it hap- 
pened, upon the same train, as I afterwards found, came the 
presiding officer of the meeting. We had three minutes 
to eat our dinner together before the speaking began, and 
we did not get very well acquainted in that time, for the 
presiding officer introduced me in this way : " Ladies and 
gentlemen : I have great pleasure in presenting to you as : 
the next speaker a man who is known as Mr. — ," and there 
he stopped. The secretary of the meeting helped him 
out by passing up my name written on a piece of paper ; 
then he said, "Mr. Hall," and began again: "Mr. Hall 
comes to us from one of the new foundations of the East, 
which you all know as — " — [laughter] — there he stuck 
again, and the secretary passed up a card on which was 
written " Clark University, Worcester, Mass."; then he be- 
gan with fresh zeal : " Mr. Hall, our speaker to-night, is 



ADDEESS. 231 

known as — ," and then the secretary could not help him. 
[Laughter.] And so he finally said: "Well, to tell the 
honest truth, I never heard of the man nor of his university 
before — [laughter] — but I have had about three minutes' 
talk with him, and I would n't be a mite surprised if, un- 
like that dude from England, Oscar Wilde, he had a little 
bit of good Western common-sense." [Laughter.] Now, 
ladies and gentlemen, I might, perhaps, almost take com- 
mon-sense as my theme, because I do not know any higher 
form of science than that ready, quick, available know- 
ledge of nature and of mind which is the best thing a 
man can carry about with him ; and the more perfect the 
knowledge the more practicable it is and the more ser- 
viceable at once ; and if I were to define the end of the 
university, I think I should say that it is not only to dis- 
cover truth, but to make it common coin everywhere, to 
put it into such shape that it filters down through the 
lower grades, through the college, through the high-school, 
into the grammar-school, and becomes the common pos- 
session of everybody — becomes, in short, the common- 
sense of the multitude. 

A university is really nothing but a corporation. Some 
people attribute to it, because of its historical association, 
a complete set of faculties besides the philosophical facul- 
ties. But " university " means simply a corporation ; and 
while I would not undertake to begin my rather desultory 
remarks with any definition of university, I think one 
characteristic of it is that it is a place where pioneer 
work is done in the realm of the soul. That definition is 
vague enough certainly to commend itself, I think, in 
some quarters. 

The first specific feature is one which has already been 
touched upon by the admirable survey of Professor Hale 
to whom you have just listened — specialization. I wish 
sometimes that college men would think twice before 
they speak about general culture and the culture of char- 



232 UNION COLLEGE. 

acter, which we know is fundamental for everything and 
everybody, as if it were in any degree inconsistent with 
specialization. On the contrary, proper specialization 
demands the very best kind of character — truthfulness, 
integrity, morality in every direction, self-sacrifice, and 
what perhaps includes them all, enthusiasm for the highest 
ideals of living and thinking. So that specialization, as 
I believe, if precocious is one of the most dwarfing things ; 
but if it is built on a proper basis, if the foundation is 
large and solid, so that the superstructure will be stable, 
specialization cannot be carried too far. 

When you come to think of it, the world to-day is 
ruled in every department by the specialist. In the sick 
room it is the specialist that says the deciding word, 
whether this or that operation shall be performed or 
what the treatment shall be. In the Congressional com- 
mittee-room it is the expert that determines whether this 
or that amount of money is necessary in that great en- 
gineering scheme or in anything else. In all matters that 
pertain to administration, whether in municipality, State, 
or nation, in scientific matters, in everything that makes 
civilization, laying out streets, building great houses, 
business ventures — all seem to depend more and more 
upon the expert ; so that, more than ever before, the 
world is ruled by experts, by those men who have pushed 
to the front and have had as their ideal to know every- 
thing that could be known about some little point. And, 
therefore, I believe that there should always be in this 
great flood of commencement eloquence that is poured 
out like everlasting showers from heaven upon our acad- 
emic youth at this season of the year — I believe that there 
should always be among the ideals held up, that of going 
to the frontier, of being no longer content to be an echo, 
but the ideal of being an authority upon some point, ever 
so small though it be. That ideal saves many a young 
man ; it makes many a career. There are a great many 



ADDEESS. 233 

men whose, ability is of such an order and of such an 
amount that if they attempt many things they are lost ; 
but there is almost no one of average talent who, if he 
but focus sharply enough, cannot achieve distinction and 
render great service in the world to-day. So I have great 
respect for the man who has deliberately taken as his ideal 
to know all that can be known about some little thing. 
It is a high and noble ideal, and far from being incon- 
sistent with the other ideal, which should never be for- 
gotten in all-round culture of all the faculties of the soul 
and of the body. Its only basis should be these, and 
these should be its universal and inexorable prerequisite. 
I am very fond of telling a little experience of my own 
many years ago, when I went fresh from the neighboring 
college of Williams to G-ermany to study. I went at a 
time when the senior year was always spelled with a big 
" S," and a senior felt he must rather repress his omnisci- 
ence, and it was somewhat difficult, as he believed, to af- 
fect the necessary modesty when he returned to his ac- 
customed niche. Because in those days the senior year 
was designed to be the finishing year, and there was left 
with a young man who had " finished " a sense of finality 
which was the greatest injury of the old college course, 
before the university movement began. Well, I went to 
Germany after I had " finished " aud to a renowned pro- 
fessor in one of the universities there and told him what 
I wanted to do and said, " What would you advise ? " He 
said, " What have you studied ? " I ran over the whole 
curriculum ; and he said, " What do you want to do 1 " I 
told him I wanted to study the human soul, the brain in 
its relation to the body, and the mind in its relation to 
the will. He said, " Well, give me a day to think about 
it." I went the next day and he said: "I think your 
best course is to spend your first year in Germany in 
studying one of the muscles of a frog's leg." I assure you 
I felt that that was a great humiliation for a senior, and 



234 UNION COLLEGE. 

a postgraduate at that, to study the leg of a bull-frog. 
Nevertheless, I thought I would begin and see how it 
went ; and so with the professor's assistance we went to 
work and worked a week or two, and the study grew 
rather interesting. I found that I had to know a little 
about electricity in a more thorough way than I ever had 
known it before ; I had to study up a whole branch of 
physiology. I found the muscles of a frog were just like 
human muscles. I found the muscles of the average 
human body were one-half of the body by weight and 
expended something like two-fifths of all its energy meas- 
ured in foot-pounds. I found that the muscles worked 
with the greatest mathematical accuracy and that all could 
be made exact by giving the frog an artificial blood of .6 
of one per cent, of salt. I say that I got interested, and 
at the end of the first year I went off to the mountains 
with a great chest full of books; for I had concluded I 
would really like to know something about the muscle in 
this frog's leg ; and I spent the entire second year upon 
that question, because I had then recognized that the 
muscles were the only organs of the will; that they had 
done all the work in the world, that they built all the 
temples, the highest religious structures, made all the 
machinery, made all the books, and spoken all the words 
— had done everything that man had ever done, that you 
would never know of any such thing as will but for the 
muscles; and that they, therefore, were the organs by 
which you could make the best approach to the study of 
the human soul. Well, after the close of the second year, 
although I had contributed but the smallest mite to the 
great temple of science, I had nevertheless learned the 
great lesson that the world has one core, that there is 
unity pervading it all, and that you cannot begin to 
study any subject minutely without finding that, like old 
Thor in attempting to lift up the snake that coiled round 
the world, you had got hold of infinity, that you were 



ADDKESS. 235 

studying the real nature of man, God, and the world; 
for in these days of evolution and the conservation of 
energy, it makes very little difference where you enter 
this great temple of truth, provided only you get in. In 
this study then I had passed from the attitude of Peter 
Bell, of whom the poet tells us, "A primrose by a 
river's brim, a yellow primrose was to him, and it was 
nothing more," in the presence of this tiny bit of muscle, 
— I had passed from this standpoint up to that other 
standpoint of that higher poet who culled a flower from 
a crannied wall and said, " If I did but know what it is, 
branch, stem, root, and all, I should know what God is 
and what man is." I had learned the " onme tulit punc- 
tual" — nature's organic unity, that she is one to the 
core; and that cannot be learned these days except by 
the method of specialization. 

My second point has also been already touched upon by 
Dr. Hale, and is very closely connected with this. The 
college work, as we know, is very largely a work of ac- 
quisition. It is culture, as President Gil man is fond of 
saying ; the college years should be years of discipline, of 
training, of putting a man in possession of his faculties 
and getting him ready really to acquire and really to use 
the tools he works by. There is a method which I believe 
is an especial feature and type of the university to-day, 
and I would see its method carried down even into the 
college. When a young man gets to be twenty-three, 
twenty-four, twenty-five, or twenty-six, I am inclined to 
think he is approaching an age when a long cramming 
for examination is not the best kind of an education 
he can receive. The carrying power of the mind does 
not measure power ; the student must be tested by what 
he can do rather than by what he knows ; and it is this 
creative power, this enthusiasm which nothing but the 
methods of creativeness can reach, that I believe is one 
of the chief functions of the university to cultivate. It 



236 UNION COLLEGE. 

teaches men to think, and that is a very difficult thing to 
do. Along with the good work which the colleges have 
done, it is amusing to see what a long list of modes of 
avoiding thought colleges have multiplied and perpetu- 
ated. I have a lecture on that subject, but it would take 
an hour at least to deliver it, and I would not enter upon 
it here. The lecture is one upon self-deception, or avoid- 
ing work, which colleges and high schools have inculcated. 
These matters are very insidious ; they often give us the 
conceit of learning without real learning ; they make us 
feel that we are really making progress when we are only 
marking time; but when you set the man down before 
a real problem, you test his mentality and know whether 
he has anything in him or not ; give him a definite ques- 
tion in one field or another, as the case may be, and give 
him an exact problem; then he is put upon his mettle. 
I have seen young men show magnificent powers of or- 
derly thought, that had long remained unused, when put 
to this test ; and there is nothing more interesting than 
to see one who has dawdled along through college when 
he is compelled to meet and master a real problem, swing 
out into the current of thought. No man can master 
problems simply because he has studied so many differ- 
ent things, and has stuffed himself with a certain amount 
of knowledge and has a ticket attached to him showing 
his contents, like a vessel loaded with goods, with 200 
bales, or 500 boxes of this or that ; but the man discovers 
that he needs to read in order to take up his subject 
and pursue the special line of investigation in which his 
enthusiasm has been thoroughly aroused — it is a reason 
to read and acquire information. Even if a young man 
who has had this experience does not add anything to 
the sum of human knowledge, the effort to do so gives 
him new ideals and a higher ambition ; it brings out his 
powers. And when you come to think about it, that is 
really the discipline of life. Ask any business man whe- 



ADDEESS. 237 

ther his business successes have been achieved by rou- 
tine, by method, by following old paths, or whether it is 
not by investigation and research, looking new facts, or 
new combinations of facts, in the face and working one's 
way out. That is magnificent common-sense, clarified, 
transfigured common-sense, if you please; but it is com- 
mon-sense at the top of the ladder of science just as well 
as common-sense at the bottom. But there is another 
thing no less important than the spirit of research which 
should always be cultivated in university work ; and that 
is that research and its results and possibilities should 
teach a genuine attitude of respect, a reverence for the 
efforts of all seekers for truth. As I visit educational 
institutions of to-day and study these problems, I am 
more and more impressed with what I think is the great- 
est danger of all dangers that menace education to-day, 
and I am inclined to think that it is greater in this country 
than anywhere else ; and that is the growing tendency 
on the part of young men to look somewhat askance at 
enthusiasm, at zeal, at ardor; to look, perhaps not in a 
cynical way, but rather with indifference, and even con- 
tempt, toward real, hearty, whole-souled self-abandon- 
ment to any intellectual pursuit. I think that is the 
spirit which prevails, in some institutions more than in 
others, in some men more than in others, but which 
is penetrating down into the high school. Only a few 
weeks ago at a graded high school address in the East, 
the spirit of want of enthusiasm, this desire to be so 
preternaturally and precociously staid, was deplored. It 
has affected the freshmen and sub-freshmen. The time 
was when the freshman was a little green, a little gawky, 
a little awkward. It is not so nowadays. The freshman, 
the very day of entering college, wants you to understand 
distinctly (and it is true) that he has cut his eye-teeth, 
and that there is nothing green about him whatever. He 
knows what is what. Sometimes he has sucked almost 



238 UNION COLLEGE. 

all the juice out of the orange of life. I have had occa- 
sion this very year to look over a great stack of college 
journals with reference to one particular thing, and the 
conclusion, as will appear in the published results, is 
that, while your collegian is to-day a mighty clever fel- 
low, while he has cut his eye-teeth, while he knows what 
is what better than the collegian did a generation ago, 
and knows it better and better, there are some things 
he cannot do. He can write a mighty clever burlesque 
or satire or other thing of the kind, and act it also very 
well ; yet for real education, for effective work and crea- 
tive energy, the American collegian, in spite of his too 
great age, which is often deplored, lacks something, ladies 
and gentlemen, and that lack which I wish to be defined 
better is, I believe, the direction in which our greatest 
danger lies to-day. I think that the greatest work of the 
world, the creative work, has been performed by men 
who have not reached thirty-five. The golden period of 
life is the period of youth ; and if these years do not 
bring enthusiasm which lifts a man into the stars, which 
makes us lose the fear that we shall be a little awkward, 
which makes us self -forgetful — if we have lost that power, 
perhaps it is unpopular, perhaps it is a little rash, I claim 
that that loss of power is not made up by a little short 
fellow who knows of no way of adding to his stature ex- 
cept by turning up his nose. [Laughter.] I remember 
reading a great many years ago in one of Oliver Wendell 
Holmes's books an account of a tribe which the writer 
had discovered, who, when any great thing was proposed, 
were wont to say, " Pooh, pooh ! Nothing can be done. 
Don't get excited ; don't fret yourselves." That attitude 
of pooh-poohing, I think, is a danger in many sections of 
our academic life to-day. I do not know the cause of it 
to a certainty, but there is, I think, at least one cause of 
it of which I will speak in a moment and then sit down. 
I know but one cause of it, and I believe that in the di- 



ADDKESS. 239 

agnosis I am not mistaken. When I was a small boy at 
home and read a kind of forbidden yellow-covered litera- 
ture, I was inspired with a desire to be an Indian ; and 
when I see these fellows that go round pooh-poohing, the 
old fervor for the Indian nature returns, and again would 
I like to be an Indian — a-Kickapoo. [Laughter.] The 
period of adolescence is that long critical period which 
begins with the teens. It is sometimes called the " hob- 
bledehoy " period ; it has a great many comic as well as 
a great many scientific names. It extends, as it is now 
thought, well on toward thirty in men and only to a 
somewhat less advanced point in women. That period 
is the critical period of life. It is the period of regenera- 
tion and new birth. Nature gives to aid us then our great 
sum of inheritance. We hear from far-back ancestry and 
remote lines of inheritance. Those who up to that time 
seem like their father begin to show maternal traits ; and 
those who in their bodies up to that time show only their 
parents, begin to show their grandparents. They begin 
to open all the floodgates of ancestry. Mr. Gralton says 
if we reckon eight great-grandparents to the individual, 
most of us have had something like twenty-two millions 
of ancestors ; and we hear from a good many of these 
then in this critical period of adolescence. But the sin- 
gular thing about that is that where it occurs in a pure 
blood, as in the Germans, for instance, or Jews, or as in 
the case of most of the ancient stocks, there seems to be 
a sort of instinctive natural tendency that carries young 
men safely through it without dangerous perturbations 
and without too great suddenness of change; but the 
biological principles of mixture of bloods bring this great 
change wherever nations are mixed, as we are in this 
country particularly, so that a great many ethnic stocks 
flow in all our bloods. This period comes not only more 
suddenly, but with greater fervor and heat, and it comes 
and goes with a panic; it comes toward that period of 



240 UNION COLLEGE. 

life and goes at the later period ; and when taken in con- 
nection with the fact that parental restraint is removed 
in our country earlier than it is elsewhere, I think that it 
points to a possibility of great danger in the future ; and 
I connect it in my own thought with the fact that this 
country beats all creation in the production of text-books. 
Your own great master, Hickok, whose text-books we use, 
was one of the very first and best of these men. About two 
years ago I had occasion to look over and count up the list 
of text-books addressed to young men pertaining to moral 
subjects designed to steady them through this period, 
having titles such as, " Young Man's Own Book " and 
" Practical Lessons on Moral Science." I comprehended 
in my list a little over three hundred of such books as 
these produced in this country alone, and found that, as 
far as any proper estimate could be made, there were 
two or three times as many in this country as in Ger- 
many, for instance ; so that the conclusion was obvious 
that our people either have an unusual pedagogic predi- 
lection for literature of this kind, or else our young peo- 
ple are in need of an unusual amount of advice upon this 
subject. I leave these two facts standing together, the 
precocity of our young people and the existence of this 
abundant literature designed for their guidance. I will 
not dwell upon this, though it opens up a very large field 
of discussion and inquiry. 

I believe the university always ought to teach as well 
as to investigate. There is a very great difference be- 
tween having a man as a teacher who is himself a master 
of research, and one who does not know what research is 
even in college work. If a man has been inflamed with 
a real love of knowledge and knows what the emotion is, 
he is a better teacher ever after that; a man who has 
contributed ever so little toward the sum total of know- 
ledge teaches after that with something of fire and ani- 
mation; he is touched with something of the creative 



ADDEESS. 241 

spirit ; he speaks with what Plato calls the true enthusi- 
asm which was only a kind of preparation. 

The best pedagogue is a man who has striven with 
new problems, even if he has not found their solution. It 
is an inspiration to sit at the feet of such a man ; it is 
guidance for life. So I think that one of the best things 
in the university is passed along down in this day when 
so many of the influences are at work from above down- 
ward in the new inspiration of this mode of teaching. 

To my mind, the conclusion of this university move- 
ment is this : It is very new. It really almost began with 
the great sagacity of the president of Johns Hopkins 
University, who said early in the seventies that which 
was said there in Baltimore again last year at the open- 
ing of the high school: We care not for numbers. We 
cross-section all of these lines of endeavor. We want re- 
search. We want the few best. We want them to think. 
But instead of extending the high school, it is a crying 
need of this country, whence four hundred of our young 
men are expatriating themselves every year to study 
abroad, that facilities for research should be increased. 
It is a national shame that young men cannot be given 
such facilities here at home. We ought to have as good 
teaching in every department of science as can be had 
abroad. I believe that we are to have it, and that this 
university movement which has begun so gloriously is 
only in its beginning. It is dawn; it is not yet noon, 
still less evening. Every one of these movements that I 
have mentioned, and Dr. Hale has mentioned, is, I think, 
just in its incipiency. The day of the university stands 
on tiptoe peering over the mountain top, and is just com- 
ing to the vision of young men who will live to see its 
bright and glorious consummation. One of the good 
things which it will bring, as I have said, is a closer rela- 
tion between these institutions, which is so aptly illus- 
trated by these celebrations in these days, and by this 
16 



242 UNION COLLEGE. 

particular celebration in which so many institutions take 
part, to which you invite not only your own graduates, 
but the representatives of so many different institutions 
as well who have never seen this town before. The fed- 
eration movement is going on everywhere, and will finally 
harmonize the relations of our various institutions of 
learning, from the grammar school all the way up to the 
university, for they must be correlated ; educators must 
touch hands and avoid appropriating each other's terri- 
tory, in order that the best results may be gained. I re- 
member attending a Salvation Army meeting a great 
many years ago, in which the leader and light of the meet- 
ing — a large anniversary meeting — came in and walked 
down the middle aisle, a great, magnificent fellow, saying, 
as he walked, " Three hundred and twenty-one pounds," 
— which was his weight, — "three hundred and twenty-one 
pounds, and every pound for Jesus." This sort of testi- 
mony has its weight, and I would not in the least dis- 
parage the enthusiasm which the personal element may 
arouse — far from it. But it seems to me that the day 
has passed when it can be relied upon to maintain the 
separateness, and at the same time the success, of any in- 
stitution of learning. We have had the day when college 
presidents by their leadership or reputation made their 
institutions what they were. Most of us of my age remem- 
ber when this was perhaps true ; there are some of these 
presidents left yet, but most all of them say now, "It 
is dollars and cents and students for my institution." 
Their reputation is at the service of their institution, 
three hundred and twenty-one pounds, or one or ten 
pounds, for their college. So narrow and absolute is 
the devotion of some presidents to dollars and students 
for their own glory. But the day of narrow provincialism 
is doomed, and I think the university movement is neces- 
sarily for cooperative work. The fields of science are so 
large that its thousand grades of work cannot be worked 



ADDKESS. 243 

unless we join hands. It is a blessing to have occasionally 
new institutions as well as to have old ones ; because it is 
the special mission of new institutions of learning to 
make new departures. They can try experiments. They 
ought to be, in a greater or less degree, experiment sta- 
tions, and the older ones which follow later can give 
means that have been tried there greater momentum. 

That has been the case. The whole university move- 
ment, in my mind, can be summed up in a single sen- 
tence, with which I will close. We live in a day when 
people are talking a great deal about the love of nature. 
We have no end of nature-books in every book-store. 
There are Thoreau, Jeffries, Gibson, Burroughs, and all 
the rest of that galaxy — everywhere books on the birds, 
the trees, and sky — there seems to be a movement that 
has hardly been equaled, I think, in civilization anywhere 
for loving nature, and a desire to get close to her. It is a 
popular movement very largely, it is not essentially aca- 
demic in this form, and we are getting to understand 
along with that that nature is one. These are times 
when force, rather than matter, constitutes the world. 
It is a time when we are coming to see things with the 
mind's eye rather than with the body's eye, so that nature 
is coming to have really new poetic feeling — nature, and 
man as a part of nature. We are recognizing it as the 
source of literature, of all the arts and all the sciences, and 
even religion to a very great extent ; for man is a part of 
nature extended, its culmination and its crown, so that 
the student of nature, and now even the expert, is get- 
ting more and more reverence. He comes to feel as that 
strange new English poet says about his lady-love ; he 
tells you she is not very handsome, but he says you can- 
not see her countenance for her soul. That is the way 
the naturalist feels when he studies man in any of his 
works or his physical nature. When he looks at nature 
he no longer sees her countenance for her soul. She is a 



244 UNION COLLEGE. 

great reservoir, a great magazine of force; even trite 
things come to take on a grand transcendental meaning 
as they are transfigured in the countenance of nature. 
Science and reverence are to be reinforced by this great 
scientific movement. 

Roger Bacon, as you know, used to turn from his early 
scientific study of nature to compose hymns, and when he 
made what he thought was one of his greatest discoveries 
in the heavens, he turned from his telescope and wrote, 
" Gloria in Excelsis." That is the sentiment which will 
make every religious conviction and every religious sen- 
timent deeper and stronger, and that is what makes rev- 
erent the university in its laboratory, in its seminary, in 
its special lines of work to-day, and is to make it infinitely 
more in the great future impending so near, and in which 
you young men are to see the veritable workshop of the 
Holy Ghost. 



ALUMNI DAY. 



16* 



The principal events of this day were the annual meeting of the Phi Beta 
Kappa in the English Room, and of the Sigma Xi Society in the Engineering 
Boom at 9 a.m.; the meeting of the Board of Trustees in the Philosophy 
Room and of the General Alumni Association in the Chapel at 10 a. m. ; the 
Centennial Banquet in Memorial Hall at 1:30 p. m. ; the Reunion of Classes 
about the "Old Elm" in the College Garden at 3:30 p.m.; a Reception by 
President and Mrs. Raymond at 5 p. m. ; and a Commemorative Service in 
the Fii'st Presbyterian Church at 8 p. m. 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET, 

Peesident Raymond peesiding. 



T 



OPENING ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT. 

HONORED Ouests at this board, Alumni of Union 
College, Friends and Brothers all : We bid you wel- 
come to our centennial rejoicings. While we gather in 
the name of Union College, it is not for her praise alone, 
nor chiefly, but for the praise of that love of learning and 
devotion to high aims which speaks in the history of 
every American college, and which molds the destiny of 
this Republic. It is not my province, however much it 
might be my pleasure, to dwell upon the past, nor yet to 
speak of the future, but rather to open the door and lead 
the way to the fellowships of the present hour. From 
time immemorial the table of feasting has been the altar 
of friendship, and the breaking of bread the pledge of 
fraternal union. We honor tradition to-day, as is seemly 
at such an anniversary, and conserve the fraternal spirit 
of the world of letters as we make this the occasion for 
the exchange of intercollegiate courtesies and expressions 
of mutual esteem. To-morrow, in this place and at this 

247 



248 UNION COLLEGE. 

hour, we who are the sons of Union will gather around 
our mother to tell her of our gratitude and devotion ; but 
to-day we take our places at her side as hosts, and it be- 
comes my privilege to present, one by one, the guests 
who make this occasion distinguished by their presence. 

When, more than a century ago, while the War of the 
Revolution was still in progress, the citizens of the Mo- 
hawk and Upper Hudson valleys petitioned the Governor 
and Legislature for a charter of a college, they introduced 
the question of State control of education ; and while the 
petition for a college was denied for the time, the larger 
question raised by it received attention, and led to the 
establishment of a most comprehensive system of State 
control under the corporate title of the Board of Regents 
of the University of the State of New York. I will not 
speak of the functions of the Board of Regents, nor of 
the service which they have rendered to the State during 
these years further than to say that the first charter 
granted by them was that which in February, 1795, cre- 
ated Union College in the city of Schenectady, New York. 
[Applause.] These circumstances gave rise to a most 
singular relationship ; for Union College may be consid- 
ered as at once the mother and the daughter of the Board 
of Regents ; but her maternal character has not been rec- 
ognized in the State at large, nor, indeed, has she insisted 
upon it, but, waiving her claim as progenitor, has gloried 
in the right, title, and emoluments of the eldest daughter, 
and with true filial spirit she welcomes to-day, first of all, 
her official mother in the person of the Chancellor of the 
Board of Regents of the University of the State of New 
York, who, let me say, in himself represents the spirit 
and the aims, the scholarship and the culture, of higher 
education in the Empire State. 

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the Reverend 
Anson J. Upson, D.D., LL.D., Chancellor of the Univer- 
sity of the State of New York. [Applause.] 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 249 

SPEECH OF ANSON JUDD UPSON, 

Chancellor of the University of the State of New York. 

MR. President, Graduates of Union College, and La- 
dies and Gentlemen : Personally, I have no right to 
address this distinguished assembly. Only my official 
position could justify your committee in giving me the 
privilege of representing here the Regents of the Univer- 
sity of the State of New York. 

Yet I am encouraged by the peculiar relations of this 
college to our Board. Union College was the first college 
chartered by the Regents. You are really the eldest 
daughter of the University. Columbia College is only a 
new edition of King's College. Its charter granted by 
the Crown was revised and corrected by us. Columbia is 
welcomed heartily to our family, yet, compared with you, 
she is an adopted daughter only. 

As a Board, the Regents are greatly indebted to Union 
College. I remember that our historical catalogue of 
Regents contains the names of twenty-six of your gradu- 
ates. Three of those have been Chancellors of the Uni- 
versity, and one a Vice-Chancellor. Three of your gradu- 
ates have been Secretaries of the University — a most 
important executive office. The official terms of these 
three men covered forty-eight years. One of these Secre- 
taries was a man whom, even in this presence, I do not 
hesitate to name illustrious — Gideon Hawley, whose 
memory is here, by his Alma Mater, deservedly honored, 
and who, as Regent and Secretary, served the State for 
fifty-six years. Gideon Hawley was a graduate of Union 
College in the Class of 1819. 

And here also let me gratefully acknowledge the loyalty 
of this college to the University. For a hundred years 
you have transmitted to Albany most suggestive and 



250 UNION COLLEGE. 

valuable annual reports. In the annual convocation of 
the teachers of this State in the Capitol, you have been 
frequently represented. The Presidents of Union have 
honored us by their dignified presence. They have bene- 
fited the teachers of the State by giving them the results 
of their wide experience, and stimulated them by their 
inspiriting eloquence. Your Professors have contributed 
largely to the interest and usefulness of the convocation 
by giving us the results of their scholarship in erudite 
and sometimes profound papers, and in vigorous and in- 
fluential discussion. For all this and much more, permit 
me, in the name of the Regents of the University, to ex- 
press our thanks. 

And permit me to say also that while you have thus 
courteously and loyally recognized us, we have not been 
indifferent to you. At the very beginning, as I learn 
from the records of our Board, in granting your important 
charter, the Regents were not neglectful of what they 
thought were your best interests. They were very delib- 
erate; thus subjecting themselves to criticism in some 
quarters. They were careful not to degrade the college 
by granting powers which in their judgment the academy 
was not yet fully prepared to exercise. 

And so in 1792 they refused a charter because sufficient 
funds had not been provided. Again, in 1794, they de- 
nied a similar application because, as the Board expressed 
it, " the state of literature in the academy did not appear 
to be far enough advanced, nor the funds sufficient." 
Later, in 1794, a circular, to use its own words, invited 
" a number of gentlemen of information " so called, to 
meet at the house of James McGrourk, innkeeper in Al- 
bany. Those "gentlemen of information" finally pe- 
titioned the Regents for the charter of a college with the 
munificent endowment of $25,000, the President to re- 
ceive annually $750, the Professor of Mathematics $550, 
and the Professor of Latin and Greek $500. This endow- 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 251 

ment and these salaries were large sums in those days. 
The city of Albany, your rival at that time, offered $50,- 
000 and two acres of land. Nevertheless, after much de- 
liberation, the Regents granted your charter in February, 
1795. No wonder that this significant event, after so 
long delay, was celebrated by " the ringing of bells, the 
display of flags, bonfires, and a general illumination." 
The remarkable history of this great college justifies the 
popular enthusiasm at its foundation. 

The Regents share in the congratulations of this occa- 
sion. Your college has a peculiar history. You have 
not merely repeated here the collegiate life of other 
similar institutions. And the Regents, advanced in years 
as they have been supposed to be, blind and deaf, resting 
their chins on gold-headed canes, even this " collection of 
fossils," as they used to be named — even these insensate 
men have not failed to observe your remarkable charac- 
teristics. And on this historic occasion you will permit 
us to honor you for them. 

For example: at college commencements and educa- 
tional anniversaries, the Regents had frequently and 
patiently listened to long orations by distinguished men 
on such themes as " The Scholar in Politics," " The 
Duties of Educated Men to the State," " The Relations of 
Learning to Public Life." The Regents had heard these 
elaborate discourses so often, with no practical result 
appearing, that they began to think and to say : " This is 
all in vain ; the scholar will never get into politics. Men 
cannot be educated to serve the State. Learning has very 
few, if any, relations to public life." 

But our venerable Board has lived long enough to see 
in your college an example of the contrary. Under the 
leadership of your illustrious fourth President for sixty- 
two years — your great President whose name is on every 
lip to-day, this college has given to the world a successful 
example of what can be done in educating young men for 



252 UNION COLLEGE. 

public life. I cannot be mistaken when I say that it has 
been a characteristic of this college to be in touch with 
public life, to be closely affiliated with public affairs. 
You have educated here an unusual number of public 
men — men of affairs, statesmen, politicians who have 
not disgraced that once honored name, men who could 
influence and have influenced public opinion. You have 
educated men who sometimes have controlled the opin- 
ions of the whole country — men for whose words, in 
some great crisis, the whole country has waited in breath- 
less suspense. 

But the Regents have noticed also that, like most bene- 
factors, you have not done this beneficent work without 
suffering for it. Those critics who separate habitually 
learning from life have said of this college : " There can 
be no good learning there." Those who try to believe 
that the theoretical and the practical cannot coexist in 
education have denied the thoroughness of your scholar- 
ship, assuming continually and asserting sometimes that 
a practical education must be superficial. Such objec- 
tors cannot have read the published list of your honored 
instructors for a hundred years, as their names illuminate 
your general catalogue. 

Who can believe that Francis Wayland, who by his 
profound and vigorous thinking led for many years the 
largest Protestant denomination on this continent — who 
can believe that Francis Wayland, whose thoughts on for- 
eign missions are controlling the opinions on that subject 
of this country to-day ; who believes that this great Bap- 
tist thinker, an instructor here for ten years, encouraged 
superficiality in his teaching ? 

Who can believe that Alonzo Potter was a sciolist? 
That great Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania 
combined remarkably in his career the theoretical and the 
practical. It has been truly said of him that he had " a 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 253 

genius for administration." But this genius for adminis- 
tration must have had a solid foundation in exact and 
varied knowledge and mental culture, else he would not 
have inspired, as he did, in the public mind, such profound 
respect. Alonzo Potter delivered five consecutive courses 
of lectures in five successive years on " The Evidences of 
Christianity," before the Lowell Institute in Boston, to 
audiences that filled to repletion the largest public hall in 
that city. Who can believe that such a teacher, instruct- 
ing classes here for twenty-one years, could have habitu- 
ally taught his students to sacrifice genuine scholarship 
to fallacious pretense ? 

To charge your fifth President, Laurens Perseus Hickok, 
with superficial teaching, calling it practical, seems lu- 
dicrous enough to those of us who knew him well. I 
can see now that great, simple-hearted philosopher, that 
Bunyan's " Great Heart," opening his eyes in wonder at 
such an accusation. Let those who believe it try to read 
and re-read, until they think they begin to comprehend 
his philosophical masterpieces. Let them study the " Ra- 
tional Psychology" and the " Empirical Psychology" and 
the " Rational Cosmology," and when they give up their 
study, they will have changed their minds about the su- 
perficiality of this profound thinker. 

In our biographical dictionaries, the name of the illus- 
trious Tayler Lewis is followed by the distinctive title 
" scholar." Could there be a more appropriate name for 
that prince in the realm of classical and Biblical learning ? 
For twenty-eight years Tayler Lewis was a teacher here, 
and really for fifty-seven years he was identified with the 
life of this college. I dare not trust myself to express a 
tithe of the respect and reverence that I profoundly feel 
as I pronounce his venerated name. Would that the 
thoughts of this modern Plato could forever pervade and 
control our Republic ! 



254 UNION COLLEGE. 

Oh, for an hour of Wayland and Potter and Hickok 
and Lewis now ! Who of us would not sit at their feet 
to be taught as they would teach us ? 

And these four are not the ouly real scholars who have 
given their life and learning to this venerable college. 
Yates and Macauley and Brownell and Joslin and Jack- 
son and Averill and Savage and Gillespie and Pearson 
are names among your honored dead that represent gen- 
uine scholarship surely. And though John Foster be 
still living with us, we will place his name upon this roll 
of honor now : serus in codum redeas ! 

The more you study, without prejudice, the history of 
this great college, the more thoroughly will you be con- 
vinced that the theoretical and the practical have not 
been here divorced. I am proud to number among my 
own kindred a graduate of this college who could repeat 
page after page of the "Iliad" of Homer, in the original 
Greek, as he learned it in his boyhood here. I am half 
ashamed to have seemed to give importance to such 
groundless prejudices by so elaborate a refutation. 

Mr. President, what I have already said may be applied 
to another characteristic of your collegiate history, which 
the Regents have noticed with increasing favor. Presi- 
dent Nott believed, and his belief has been shared by his 
colleagues and successors, that no matter how far a young 
man may have wandered away, you should never preach 
to him a gospel of despair. Tell him rather that in his 
young life his bad habits cannot have become so fixed 
that God cannot and will not give him strength to con- 
quer them. Under the influence of this encouraging doc- 
trine, Union College became a city of refuge to many a 
young man for his reformation and restoration. The 
Regents are not alone in honoring you for the principle 
here announced and for the practice that has followed it. 

Objections can be made to this method of collegiate 
management. We may be told " it violates collegiate 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 255 

comity to receive those rejected by other colleges." We 
may be told that " the few bad received may corrupt the 
good already here." Yet, notwithstanding these objec- 
tions, it may be deliberately affirmed as the verdict of a 
hundred years that, on the whole, yours has been the 
better way. For young men in danger of making a men- 
tal and moral failure in life, a college should be no prison 
for punishment. It should be a reformatory, not a peni- 
tentiary. To many it is, as it should be, a mental and a 
moral hospital. 

When this new method of collegiate management was 
introduced, it was disapproved by many educational au- 
thorities and by some denounced. This is not surprising. 
Those were days of extreme formality and reserve be- 
tween teachers and scholars. In those days the under- 
graduate, as he walked the street or on the college cam- 
pus, was directed to uplift his hat at a prescribed distance 
on the approach of any college officer — twenty rods be- 
fore meeting the President; ten rods from a Professor; 
five rods from a Tutor. Formality was the rule, friend- 
liness was an exception. Not so now. The example and 
influence of this college have largely contributed to this 
beneficent result. 

And the history of this college is very useful as an en- 
couraging example in one other important particular. If 
I am not mistaken, you have received from the State of 
New York more money than has been received from this 
State by any one of our educational institutions. The 
larger gifts to Cornell University came indirectly from the 
United States Government. They, cost our people noth- 
ing. But you have been the principal educational ben- 
eficiary of the State of New York. Where is the citizen 
who knows anything of the history of this State, and of 
our eminent men, who will not wish that those gifts to 
you had been far more abundant and valuable 1 When I 
remember the great multitude of public men, a President 



256 UNION COLLEGE. 

of the United States, governors and senators and judges 
and law-makers, and the greater number of clergymen 
and physicians and teachers and lawyers and scientists 
and successful and influential business men, who have re- 
ceived their education here, I am ready to affirm that 
this college has returned to the State more than fourfold 
for every gift received directly or indirectly from its 
treasury. Why, the public services of your illustrious 
graduate, William Henry Seward, alone have abundantly 
compensated this Commonwealth for all it has given 
to you. 

These appropriations to Union College and their be- 
neficent use are an example of what our State should do 
for all its colleges. To all here to-day who represent the 
various colleges of this State, your example in this respect 
is encouraging and ought to be controlling in educational 
legislation. We are grateful for munificent private bene- 
factions, but what a shame it is that more is not now 
appropriated to higher education by our State ! Each 
New York taxpayer pays less than one cent a year for 
higher education. In the Northwestern States — "the 
Wild West" — public sentiment is overwhelmingly "in 
favor of placing the higher education within the reach of 
every child of the State." The example of Michigan and 
Wisconsin is well known. " The University of Minnesota 
receives from the State annually $200,000, or the equiva- 
lent of the income from an endowment of $4,000,000." 
Why should not every New York boy or girl, desiring a 
thorough education, receive it 1 Shall those only who are 
satisfied with an elementary education receive that at the 
hands of the State, and the more nobly ambitious poo? 
boys and girls be denied the higher opportunity ? Let us 
widen the equality of our educational advantages until 
in the freedom of their education our colleges shall sur- 
pass what has been " the glory of the democratic colleges 
of New England." 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 257 

Please accept, Mr. President, my thanks for your cour- 
teous patience in listening to my words. And permit me 
to renew to yourself and to your honored colleagues 
and to the authorities and benefactors of Union College 
the cordial congratulations of the Regents, with expres- 
sions of our very sincere good-will. 

A resolution recently adopted by the Board intrusts to 
me the grateful " duty of congratulating the college upon 
the acceptance of the presidency by the Reverend Doctor 
Raymond, and of expressing their cordial wishes for the 
continued prosperity of their oldest chartered institution." 



¥ 



President Raymond said : I trust that we have all bowed with becoming 
humility as we have received this blessing of our mother. 

In the history of American colleges, one name stands prominent — may I 
not say preeminent? President Eliot is authority for the suggestion that 
the proper introduction for Harvard College is a reference to her age ; that, 
he says, is a solid fact of superiority which none will gainsay, while in other 
respects there may be those who will question her leadership. His modesty 
is becoming ; but we are inclined to resent the imputation that any one 
would withhold from Harvard College any of the glory which is her due. 
Fifty years ago, at our semi-centennial celebration, one of our graduates, in 
a burst of enthusiasm, said that, in fifty years, Union College had graduated 
nearly half as many students as Harvard College in her then more than two 
hundred years of life. That was an unfortunate suggestion ; for the repre- 
sentative of Harvard College went back to Cambridge evidently jealous for 
her glory and marshalled all her forces to put such a distance between Har- 
vard and Union as should forever silence our boasting; and he succeeded. 
[Laughter and applause.] To-day we are humble. As we make no compari- 
son of years so we make no other comparisons, but recognize the honor which 
has been done us by the President of Harvard College in designating a mem- 
ber of her faculty to bring to Union the greetings of her oldest sister ; and it 
gives me great pleasure to present to you Professor George Herbert Palmer, 
of Harvard University. [Applause.] 

17 



258 UNION COLLEGE. 

SPEECH OF GEORGE HERBERT PALMER, 

Professor in Harvard University. 

MR. PRESIDENT, Graduates of Union, and Ladies 
and Gentlemen : Brief as my duty is, it is a most 
agreeable one. I am charged with bringing you the 
hearty congratulations of Harvard University, — congrat- 
ulations which rest on the grounds of kinship and of 
honor. 

Of kinship, because you and we have been associated 
for a century in carrying on the great campaign against 
human ignorance. Side by side we have stood, doing our 
work in our independent ways, and yet from the begin- 
ning, gentlemen, those ways have been highly similar. 
Our fathers went forth into the wilderness. When there, 
they saw that civilization could not be, unless men were 
trained through learning for places in the State and in the 
Church. Your ancestors and mine alike thought of the 
college as the natural leader of the people; and they 
shaped their policies with that in view. 

I may mention another point of kinship. You have 
persistently stood for freedom in religion. You have 
been an unsectarian college. You have built up a 
strongly religious institution, while insisting that the re- 
ligious life of each man should be free to expand along 
its own lines. We have tried the same experiment, and 
with a similar result ; for I found last year that Harvard 
sends into the Christian ministry more students than any 
other college in the country, with the single exception of 
Princeton. I believe, gentlemen, that the principle ac- 
cepted by us both is the sound one. So deep in the na- 
ture of man is the religious impulse that all it needs is 
opportunity and training to come forth with beneficent 
power. 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 259 

I am sent to you, however, to bring congratulations 
not merely on grounds of kinship, but on the ground of 
honor too. We are thankful for your career. Often it is 
said that the number of colleges in this country is too 
large. I cannot think so. There is work enough for all 
to do, for the small college and for the large. Each has 
its special office in spreading the college idea far and 
wide. Jealousies here are out of place. The success of 
one is a success for all. And certainly in the difficult 
task of inclining our people to prize a serious discipline, 
Union has done a work in which every other college must 
rejoice. The multitude of her graduates who have risen 
to positions of eminence has commended college educa- 
tion to the country at large. 

But, Mr. President, I cannot sit down without expres- 
sing a deep personal obligation to Union. Twenty-five 
years ago one of your graduates was teaching school (as 
is the habit of Union graduates) in a small town of cen- 
tral New York. Looking over his pupils, he noticed 
among them a young girl who, as it seemed to him, de- 
served a college training. He told her so. He told her 
father so ; and with some difficulty the girl's parents were 
persuaded to send her to Michigan University. She sub- 
sequently became President of Wellesley College, — and 
my wife. [Applause.] I had always known, gentlemen, 
that in Union is strength. I have ever since been doubly 
persuaded of it. [Prolonged applause.] 



President Raymond then said : While the Board of Regents may be 
regarded as the mother of Union College, Princeton was undoubtedly the 
nurse of her infant years ; for her first President, the Rev. John Blair Smith, 
was a graduate of Princeton College ; and fearing evidently for the life of the 
child, he resigned after four years of service, and was succeeded by another 



260 UNION COLLEGE. 

Princeton man, Jonathan Edwards the younger. This in itself is enough to 
establish a close relationship between Union and Princeton. The debt under 
which we were thus placed has been recognized by us ; and we have all rather 
prided ourselves upon paying that debt by giving back to Princeton one of 
her most illustrious Presidents, John Maclean. But President Patton in- 
forms me that we are mistaken in regarding President Maclean as a grad- 
uate of Union, as he was certainly a graduate of Princeton. To tell the 
truth and the whole truth, I believe he was an alumnus of both colleges. Hav- 
ing graduated from Princeton, he must have recognized the superior value of 
a degree from Union, and so have come here for that degree. Certainly we 
can say this now with safety, inasmuch as President Patton, who expected to 
be here, is not with us to-day to refute it. 

Union College has always prided herself on being the first college in this 
country to be established by charter upon an undenominational basis. While 
never losing her religious character, she has been consistently non-sectarian. 
Her first two Presidents were Presbyterians, as we have seen ; her third Pres- 
ident, the Rev. Jonathan Maxcy, was a graduate of Brown University and a 
Baptist. This only marks the beginning of our debt to Brown University. 
How that debt was increased all will know when I say that our next Pres- 
ident was also a son of Brown, although not a Baptist, and was none other 
than Rev. Eliphalet Nott. That name stands for the greatest glory of the 
past, and establishes the close connection between Union and Brown Univer- 
sity. I have spoken of our debt, but it does not burden us as it would had we 
not given to Brown the man whose name may rank even with that of Dr. 
Nott among the great presidents of American colleges, Francis Wayland. 
President Andrews hoped to be with us to-day, but because of other engage- 
ments he felt that he must confine his greetings to the words which were 
spoken yesterday at the Educational Conference in the College Chapel. And 
surely all who heard those words will recognize the tribute that has been 
paid to Union College by the presence here and the address of the distin- 
guished successor of President Wayland. 

But what of Yale ? It is not her fortune to wait long in any roll-call of 
American colleges for the sound of her name. She is so accustomed to see- 
ing her blue at the front that it must always be a surprise to find it anywhere 
else ; and, to speak frankly, if I had been guided by purely personal feelings 
in arranging this program, I should have seen that the name of Yale led all 
the rest. For am not I a graduate of Yale by inheritance? Did I not walk 
her campus and sit upon her fence and receive her diploma in the loins of my 
father? [Laughter.] Is not one of my most cherished treasures a prize 
which we thus took together when he graduated in 1825 ? But environment 
modifies heredity, and I am now a Union man and allied to Union's interests. 
[Applause.] But even Union's interests cannot long disregard the claims of 
Yale. We may not have given any President to Yale. Yale may not have 
given any President to us ; but the whole college world is indebted to Yale 
University. Her democratic spirit ; her honest Americanism ; her straight- 
forward devotion to her own traditions and her own aims have been an in- 
spiring influence in all the college world. We are glad to recognize our ob- 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 261 

ligation to Yale and are glad to recognize the honor which Yale has done us 
by sending as her representative the Dean of her college faculty, Prof. Henry 
Parks Wright, whom I now have the pleasure of presenting. 



SPEECH OF HENRY PARKS WRIGHT, 

Dean of Yale College Faculty. 

MP. PRESIDENT and Alumni of Union College : I 
very much regret that President D wight is not able 
to be here to-day ; but the fact that this is commencement 
week in New Haven also sufficiently explains his absence. 
I have been requested by the President and Faculty of 
Yale University to represent them at this centennial cele- 
bration, and to express to you, sir, and to those asso- 
ciated with you in the management and government of 
this institution, our fraternal greeting. Union College 
had a worthy beginning. Its name preserves the creed 
of its founders who, -a century ago, avowed those prin- 
ciples of liberality and unity to which to-day all colleges 
subscribe. It has had a worthy history. Of the twenty- 
one American colleges founded before the year 1795, few, 
if any, were able to present at their one hundredth an- 
niversary such a list of distinguished graduates as you 
can now show. Yale congratulates you, sir, on the rec- 
ords of the past and on your present prosperity. As 
you say, Yale has not contributed largely to your fac- 
ulty; but we do not forget that the distinguished man 
who, for more than sixty years, presided over this insti- 
tution, though a graduate of Brown, came, as you did, 
from good Yale stock, and was brought up under Yale 
influences. [Applause.] 

One hundred years is a long period. We speak of a 
century without stopping to think how much the word 
means, or what a large fraction of all historic time a cen- 
tury is. If we go back to the founding of this college, 
17* 



262 UNION COLLEGE. 

we find ourselves in the administration of Washington 
and in the early years of the American Republic. The 
period covered by the history of this institution is about 
one twenty-fifth of the time since the founding of Rome. 
Sixty such periods would take us back to that date given 
in Hebrew chronology for the creation of Adam. The 
administration of President Nott alone included about 
one thirtieth of the entire Christian era down to the 
present day. A college that can celebrate its one hun- 
dredth anniversary is, as man counts time, very old. 

Now here is something that is remarkable in regard to 
age, — namely, that you can grow old and at the same 
time be gaining new life and new vigor. The life of an 
individual soon reaches its natural limit. When a man 
finds that he has a work to do, he soon comes to realize 
that the great thing lacking is time. He could accomplish 
his work if life were only long enough. Every year added 
to the past with him takes away a year from the future. 
But there is no such natural limit to the age of an insti- 
tution of learning ; it never becomes so old that it may 
not patiently plan for centuries to come. In fact, the 
longer the past has been, the longer the future is likely 
to be. Our American universities have survived revolu- 
tion, war, change in government. With the exception of 
the Christian religion, there is nothing which seems to be 
more firmly established than our institutions of learning. 
Age, too, generally brings with it the characteristics of 
age. We unfortunately cannot grow old and still keep 
our youth. But to an institution of learning increasing- 
years bring increasing strength. As it grows old it may 
not only keep young, but it may even grow young. The 
college has access to the fountain of perpetual youth. 
All our American colleges that have passed their one 
hundredth anniversary are really younger to-day than 
they were fifty years ago, — younger in their life and 
spirit. They no longer cling obstinately to old theories 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 263 

simply because they have long been held. They are 
ready to investigate and ready to accept the best. Their 
spirit is progressive. 

As Union College enters upon its second century our 
wish is that its history may cover many centuries ; and 
that the record of each may be as creditable, as gratifying 
to its officers, to its alumni, and to its friends as the 
record of the one now closed, and that with its increasing 
years it may combine that wisdom which is the charac- 
teristic of age with the energy and the enthusiasm and 
the progressive spirit of youth. [Applause.] 



¥ 



President Eatmond said : Our nearest neighbor among the older colleges 
and our closest friend, I think, among all the colleges, is Williams. [Ap- 
plause.] We are almost twins. For the echoes of her centennial celebration 
have not yet died away. For one hundred years we have shared experiences 
and divided honors. When her Garfield fell our Arthur took his place and 
continued his policy. [Applause.] Nowhere is Williams's splendid past more 
honored than at Union, and nowhere is her present prosperity the subject of 
more sincere congratulations. 

President Carter had hoped and expected to be with us some time during 
this centennial celebration ; but finding at last that he would be obliged to 
be at Williamstown during the whole of the week, or the first part of the 
week, at least, he appointed a professor to represent Williams College, who 
is most cordially greeted this afternoon, not only for the sake of Williams, 
but also for his own sake. And as we now welcome Professor John Haskell 
Hewitt, I may be permitted to express the hope aud desire of all Union men, 
that this occasion may be the pledge and the beginning of even closer fellow- 
ship through the new century upon which we have both entered. 



SPEECH OF JOHN HASKELL HEWITT, 

Professor in Williams College. 

ME. PRESIDENT, Alumni, Students, and Friends of 
Union College: Williams College having recently 
celebrated her centennial anniversary, — as your President 



264 UNION COLLEGE. 

has just intimated, — sends to Union, as to a slightly 
younger sister, her most cordial greetings on this auspi- 
cious occasion. 

There are many things connected with the origins and 
histories of these two colleges which, it seems to me, 
should tend to make strong the bond of sisterhood to 
which I refer. Both of them being among the first fruits 
of the peace that followed the war for independence, they 
might not inaptly be termed " Daughters of the Bevolu- 
tion." Both of them being situated near the line of what 
used to be known as the "Old Mohawk Trail" connect 
themselves in their history closely with those stirring 
events and those heroic deeds by which the northern sec- 
tion of New York and New England was made forever se- 
cure to civil and religious liberty. The origins of the two 
colleges were not unlike. It was in your neighboring city 
of Albany that our founder, Colonel Ephraim Williams, 
when on his march to that battle in which he fell near 
Lake George, made his last will bequeathing his little 
estate to establish a "Free School" in Williamstown for 
the education of the children of his soldiers. Out of that 
free school came Williams College, as, I understand, out 
of an academy came Union College. As has been already 
intimated, the times of the birth of these two institutions 
were so nearly the same that we might properly call them 
twins, and give to them the classical designation which 
the fond couple over in the Hoosac Mountains gave to 
the twins that visited their happy home some time since, 
calling one of them " Simul " and the other " Taneous." 
[Laughter.] My first knowledge of these two colleges 
came to me when a lad over in Connecticut through the 
very enviable reputation that each was presided over by 
an ideal college president. President Nott at Union and 
President Hopkins at Williams, who left lasting impres- 
sions on these two institutions, were men of the highest 
and noblest conceptions of education, men who placed 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 265 

culture above knowledge and character above culture. 
They were men, too, of the broadest and most generous 
sympathy in religious matters, exemplifying in their lives 
and their teachings that liberal spirit which is expressed 
in the motto on Union's seal. And, sir, it is one of the 
happy auspices of this auspicious occasion that Union 
College enters upon her second century with the ideal 
college President still at the helm. [Applause.] 

There is also a personal matter, if I may refer to it 
briefly here, which has ever led me to look with rever- 
ence toward Union College. When, more than a gener- 
ation ago, as an undergraduate at Yale, I was initiated 
into a fraternity where I formed those strong friendships 
which have remained faithful up to this present time, I 
was taught to look upon Union as a sort of alma mater, 
being instructed that here, in 1833, was founded the 
mother chapter of our fraternity. 

There are many peculiarities of which Williams might 
boast, but you would probably match them at every 
point. If I should speak of the Berkshire hills which 
form the beautiful setting of our town and our college, 
you would, with pardonable pride, point me to the more 
than idyllic beauty of the scenery of the Mohawk Valley. 
If I should make the statement that we have the longest 
railway tunnel in America, you would, of course, remind 
me that you are located on " The great four-track Trunk 
Line of the United States." If I should suggest that we, 
being situated just beyond the border, are the Yankee 
College, and remind you that, according to Dr. Skeat, of 
the University of Cambridge, the word " Yankee " comes 
from a Norwegian word which signifies " quick-moving," 
" active," " spry," and suggest to you that therefore we 
would be likely to excel in that important branch of mod- 
ern education, athletics, and that so the Yankee is fitted 
to carry the arts of civilization across the continent, you 
would probably remind me that recently canals have been 



266 UNION COLLEGE. 

discovered in the planet Mars, and that undoubtedly the 
Dutchman is ahead of the Yankee there. And when I 
look over the long list of illustrious names in your gen- 
eral catalogue and see the decided preference you have 
for one of the last letters of the alphabet, I am persuaded 
that hitherto you have always kept in the "Van." 

I was greatly interested recently in perusing portions 
of one of the early documents of our college. It was, in 
fact, the petition of the trustees of the free school to 
which I have referred, addressed to the General Court of 
Massachusetts, praying that an act be passed, incorporat- 
ing the free school into a college, the said petition setting 
forth that " the town of Williamstown is bordering upon 
the most fertile parts of the States of New York and Ver- 
mont. If, therefore, a college was instituted in that town, 
such is its local position that great numbers of youths 
would probably resort there from the neighboring States, 
for the purpose of obtaining a liberal education. This 
would furnish an opportunity of diffusing our best hab- 
its and manners among the citizens of our sister States." 
Thus early, sir, in her history, you see cropping out that 
missionary spirit which has always characterized Will- 
iams College. 

I fear I have dwelt too long upon the past and that you 
may be reminding me of that old story of the country- 
man who was passing by a country inn about noon-time 
and stopped for his mid-day meal. The waitress asked 
him if he would have some ox-tail soup. Having never 
heard of that delicacy, the countryman was a little dazed 
at first, but after some moments of meditation asked, 
" Is n't that going a good ways back for soup 1 " [Long 
laughter.] The lesson of the hour, sir, and of this occa- 
sion is not so much retrospect as it is thankfulness and 
hopefulness. In America, as my friend, Professor Wright, 
has already intimated, it still is a rare thing for a college 
to attain to the venerable distinction of being a centen- 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 267 

arian. While Oxford can boast of her eight hundred 
years, Heidelberg of five hundred years, and Edinburgh 
of three hundred, our mother university has but recently 
celebrated her two hundred and fiftieth anniversary ; and 
of our nearly four hundred collegiate institutions, only 
about a dozen have attained to the age of a century or 
more. But, sir, the wealth which a college like Union 
has, on its centennial, in its alumni and in its precious 
traditions, is incalculable. It is in the college as it is in 
the family, — "children are an heritage of the Lord. . . . 
They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the 
enemies in the gate." It is related that the famous Dr. 
Busby, who presided with such distinction for so many 
years in the seventeenth century over Westminster School, 
was once approached by a would-be patron with the ques- 
tion, "What are your references?" "References!" said 
the old doctor, bringing to bear on the would-be patron 
that magnificent brow with a mingled expression of pity 
and contempt, " References ! Go to the Houses of Par- 
liament, to the House of Bishops, to the Faculties of 
the Universities, to the leading positions throughout the 
United Kingdom, there you will find my references." And 
so, as Chancellor Upson has so eloquently indicated, Union 
may bid men go to the prominent places on the bench, 
at the bar, in the pulpit, in business, in scholarship, in 
literature, in statesmanship, and there find her refer- 
ences. To-day she may point to her children with a far 
fonder pride than did the mother of the Gracchi to her 
sons and call them her "jewels." Fittingly, in reviewing 
the work of a hundred years, could we use of her the 
words of the grand inscription placed in golden letters 
over the choir in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, in mem- 
ory of its distinguished architect, Sir Christopher Wren, — 
the grand pile itself being his solemn and fitting mauso- 
leum — si monumentum requiris, circumspice. 

Mr. President, the past of Union College is secure ; to 



268 UNION COLLEGE. 

adapt a line from an English sonnet, May your future 
copy fair the glories of your past. Now, in closing, I 
wish to express my personal gratitude for the courtesies 
you have extended to me on this occasion, and again to 
give you the glad salutations of Williams College and her 
best wishes and heartiest Godspeed for the new century 
on which you enter. [Long applause.] 



•* 



President Raymond said : Professor Richardson, who is to represent 
Dartmouth College, is, I understand, on his way, and will be here for to- 
morrow's gathering in this place, if he does not arrive before the conclusion 
of our proceedings this afternoon. [His speech, delivered at the banquet the 
day following, is here inserted.] 



SPEECH OF CHARLES F. RICHARDSON, 

Professor in Dartmouth College. 

MR. PRESIDENT, Gentlemen, and Brothers: I 
thank you very heartily for the opportunity given 
me to say a few words to-day which I would fain have 
said yesterday, but to which I may perhaps give more 
emphasis and more earnestness because of the little 
delay. 

I will trespass upon your time but briefly. I must, 
however, say that Dartmouth congratulates you most 
warmly upon all the joys of this joyous time. She has 
a right to do so ; because Dartmouth and Union, as in- 
deed you have already heard in the case of other institu- 
tions, are alike in very many points. They are of about 
the same age and have nearly identical purposes. They 
are devoted to Christianity, but not to denominationalism. 
They believe in the education of men remote from the 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 269 

largest centers of population. They have twenty-five or 
thirty instructors on their faculties, teaching three or 
four hundred students. I suppose in all these particu- 
lars we are like many other colleges. 

One other common ground lies beneath the feet of us 
all and supports us all. It is that to which your Presi- 
dent so felicitously alluded : the decision of the Supreme 
Court in the Dartmouth College case. That decision 
showed the country many years ago, and still shows it 
to-day, that we have nothing firmer, nothing more sacred, 
nothing more truly venerable than our institutions of 
learning. We do love them ; for them we live. 

Just one more word and I am done. The American 
system of education has apparently been committed for 
years to the wide subdivision of educational endowments, 
to the multiplication of many colleges rather than to the 
concentration of wealth in the treasuries of a few. Never 
has that distribution of academic endowments and means 
been more apparent than in the last five or ten years. 
We may well question whether in twenty-five or thirty 
years to come we shall not be still farther away from the 
old state of things where one could confidently mention 
the best two or three American institutions of learning. 
To-day, one is the best in one respect, another in another. 
I believe that this distribution of resources and attain- 
ments will go on and on until a hundred years hence we 
shall have more rather than less of these separate cen- 
ters, these distributing-points of light and learning. This 
very year the extensive reconstruction of two leading- 
institutions in the American metropolis shows us, if we 
did not know it before, what is to be the American policy 
of the future. 

" To each his own," said the old Latin motto. Other 
things being equal, let us serve the college of our gradu- 
ation. Other things being equal, let us give her our love, 
our money, and our sons. But let us also remember an- 



270 UNION COLLEGE. 

other thing : in the development of the American system 
of education, in this distribution which I cannot but 
believe to be wise, one college is to serve excellently in 
one way, another in another way. Diversity in unity, — 
that is expressive not only of the Union College which 
stands for all that is good and true in the past and pres- 
ent, and which promises the same for the future, but, as 
I believe, of the union of colleges devoted to the republic 
of letters and the democracy of true manhood. [Ap- 
plause.] 



President Raymond said : One of the universities of the State which 
has been in the closest relations with Union College during the past fifty and 
more years is the University of the City of New York. Chancellor Mac- 
Cracken had hoped to be with us at this time, but wrote this letter, which 
has been received recently, and after giving the reasons, which are alto- 
gether satisfactory, for his enforced absence, he adds : 

I regret that I am thus hindered from presenting myself to the venerable 
dame who sits so gracefully by the Mohawk, and who extends hospitable 
greetings not to her own children alone but to the children of her sister col- 
leges. Since the days when I was in college, I have accepted Union as 
approaching in many respects the ideal American college. In situation near 
a crowded population, yet outside the crowd ; as to control, under Christian 
and moral influences, yet not denominational ; in size, possessed of classes 
large enough for a faculty to become acquainted with, yet not too large ; as to 
constituency attracting fair proportions from the farm, the village, and the 
city alike ; as to ideals of scholarship and manhood not surpassed by any 
other college. 

The men of Union whom I have known as fellow-students, as comrades in 
educational and religious work, have made Union College stand out before 
my eyes as fulfilling all I have said and much more. What have they not 
done in our metropolis, New York City ? I should like to name the names of 
a few were it not that I should give way, I fear, to the temptation of men- 
tioning too many. I wish that as Union begins her second century she may 
be as kind and wise and good, and a great deal richer than she has ever been 
in the first century. The Empire State has but a dozen colleges for young 
men fairly well endowed. They should be twelve apostles of knowledge, 
culture, and character to New York State and the nation. 

Sincerely yours, Henry M. MacCracken. 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 271 

If I may be permitted a word after reading this letter, I would like to speak 
of the gift which Union College made to the University of the City of New 
York in Tayler Lewis. We regretted the gift and took it back ; and the last 
years of the life of Tayler Lewis were spent in connection with his alma 
mater. That name has been mentioned elsewhere in the course of our pro- 
ceedings to-day, a name which is never mentioned without arousing the 
warmest gratitude of every Union man ; and at the request which I under- 
stand expresses a general desire, I at this time yield for a moment to one of 
our own alumni, Colonel Robinson, who has a word to say in this connection. 

Colonel Robinson made an appeal to the alumni to 
purchase for the college the library of Professor Lewis. 

President Raymond then said : The relations between Union College 
and Columbia have been close in a special way. It was Dr. Nott who early 
in the century fought a legislative battle for Columbia and secured for her 
the gift of the Botanical Gardens, the source of her present great income. 
Columbia has always been grateful, and has returned the favor, although 
not in kind. As an illustration of the return which she has made, I have but 
to refer to the fact that our present scholarly professor of Latin (Sidney G. 
Ashmore) is a son of Columbia College. [Applause.] 

When President Low was forced to decline our invitation because of his 
engagement to sail for Europe early in the month, he was pleased to desig- 
nate the next in official station as Columbia's representative ; and it is my 
privilege to present Professor Van Amringe, Dean of Columbia College. 



SPEECH OF J. H. VAN AMRINGE, 

Dean of Columbia College. 

MR. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen : It is with very 
great pleasure that I appear on behalf of Columbia 
College to congratulate Union upon the happy completion 
of a century of useful life. I may, perhaps, be pardoned 
if, on this occasion, to catch by reflection, perchance, 
something of the glory that gathers about this seat of 
learning, I claim that, in a historic and also in a certain 
spiritual sense, Union is an offspring of Columbia. 

Columbia had already been a generation at work before 
Union was called into being, — a generation of momentous 
consequence to mankind in which she had played no 



272 UNION COLLEGE. 

mean part. Her aspirations, her experience, her difficul- 
ties, and her accomplishment were familiar to the men 
who founded this college, and they used them, like wise 
men, in framing their charter and outlining then- educa- 
tional policies. She appears to have been the incentive 
to the creation of the Regents of the University of the 
State, and upon her was their attention first centered. 
But that body involved, as you know, a larger concept 
than could be filled by the activities of a single institution 
in one corner of the State. The Board of Regents was 
intended to be, and is, the outward and visible sign of an 
essential union of all the academic and collegiate institu- 
tions throughout this commonwealth. The first fruit of 
the idea thus embodied, as regards higher institutions, was 
this college, so happily and so auspiciously styled " Union 
College," — expressing thus by its title the hope and the 
design of the founders, that here should be cultivated 
and exemplified all the Christian graces that flourish in 
any and every religious denomination, and typifying no 
less the spirit of unity that animates the entire educa- 
tional system of New York. 

We celebrate then, sir, to-day, not only the centennial 
of Union, inspiring as that of itself is, but, in addition, 
the oneness of interest in the public service of all colleges. 
For what is any single college but one constituent part 
of a systematic whole, contrived and conducted as an 
accelerating force in civilization ; one element of an or- 
ganized desire and effort to raise all men to a higher level ; 
one section of the girdle that encircles the country con- 
ducting everywhere throughout her borders life-giving, 
character-building influences? The individual colleges 
have, of necessity, their chosen fields of action. They 
severally spend their energies and find their chief satis- 
faction in following out their own especial lines of en- 
deavor. Each has, of course, characteristics peculiar to 
itself ; but if from the strongly marked features of them 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. • 273 

all you make a composite picture, it will show you the 
image of one of the two necessary saviors of this Ee- 
public, the other being the Church. All college reunions, 
celebrations such as this, bring this truth prominently into 
view and enforce a lesson that is most valuable for all of 
us to learn ; it raises us to a higher plane of contempla- 
tion in educational matters, and makes us more just in 
our judgments of each other, more catholic in spirit and 
in action. 

The charter constituting Union, dated February 25, 1795, 
and bearing the honored names of George Clinton, Chan- 
cellor, and DeWitt Clinton, Secretary, declared that this 
college was established "for the instruction and educa- 
tion of youth in the learned languages and the liberal arts 
and sciences." The century that has since elapsed has 
wrought a great change in the conception of what con- 
stitutes a collegiate education proper, the " education of 
a gentleman." The years have been fruitful in extending 
the boundaries of learning, in widening particularly the 
circle of the sciences; in begetting a new spirit of re- 
search after new truth, and a different method of present- 
ing to students that which is already known. A century 
ago, the academic curriculum was practically as well 
marked out, as definitely settled, as is the technical course 
in a professional school of to-day. But that has long 
ceased to be the fact, and we are still in the throes of 
an agitation as to what are the necessary elements of a 
liberal education. But however widely we may differ in 
opinion, however much we may dispute, as to the con- 
stituents of such an education, we are at one as to the 
vital importance of the thing itself. Whatever may be 
the several ways of striving for the result, the intent is 
the same everywhere, yesterday, to-day, and forever. It 
is to make men, — not merely professional men and spe- 
cialists; to cultivate men in the spirit and for the pur- 
pose expressed in the legend that the great philosophic 
18 



274 UNION COLLEGE. 

historian and teacher, Francis Lieber, inscribed on the 
wall of his lectnre-room : Non s choice sed vitce, vitce utrique. 
How steadily Union has kept this end in view, and how 
well she has thus far executed the trust confided to her, 
are clear to those who read her story in the services of her 
alumni, are evident to any one who will look about him 
upon this impressive assemblage of her sons. That she 
shall continue her good work with ever-increasing vigor 
and repute is the earnest desire of Columbia; and in its 
prosecution, Mr. President, you have our warmest good 
wishes. [Applause.] 



•r 



President Eatmond said: And now comes Bowdoin, rich in the in- 
heritance of names that are dear to every American heart, the youngest 
centenarian in the college world, as barely one year has passed since she 
attained the distinction of a hundred years of life. We gave her a President, 
but every college in America is debtor to the alma mater of Longfellow and 
Hawthorne. Most sincerely do we appreciate the courtesy which has sent 
from such a distance a representative to bring the greetings of Bowdoin 
College. We welcome Professor William MacDonald. 



SPEECH OF WILLIAM MACDONALD, 

Professor in Bowdoin College. 

MR. PRESIDENT; Alumni of Union College and 
Friends : When your President extended a cour- 
teous invitation to Bowdoin to be represented at this 
gathering to-day, he said in his letter to- our President, 
that as Bowdoin had recently passed through a centen- 
nial celebration, she would know well how to " sympa- 
thize " with Union ; and the first thing which I should do 
at this time is to extend to Union College on behalf of 
Bowdoin our sincere and profound sympathy. 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 275 

I count it a great pleasure to be able to be here to-day 
as a representative of Bowdoin, and to see your centen- 
nial exercises passing with such great success. When 
President Hyde informed me that I had been delegated 
to represent the college here to-day, I asked him what I 
should say. His reply was : " Say anything you please, 
only make it short." I want, therefore, without being 
known for much speaking, to extend the congratulations 
of Bowdoin upon the possession by Union College of men 
who in every department of life have done distinguished 
service, — men who have been great statesmen, great 
scholars, great business men, great administrators of af- 
fairs. We congratulate you upon the skill, ability, and 
devotion with which your college is now directed ; and 
we congratulate you — shall I say most of all? — upon 
the large numbers of your alumni who, without making 
for themselves great places, without attaining great dis- 
tinction, without coming here to-day with a long train 
of honors, have, nevertheless, carried into their lives as 
citizens, as fathers, as professional men, as public men, 
those principles of truthfulness and earnestness, of 
honesty, devotion and manliness, which are the sure 
foundations of our American life. 

It was said the other evening by one of the speakers 
that in his judgment the American university must stand 
— I think that was his word — upon the college. Those 
of us who work in the colleges hope that the American 
university will never " step " upon the college. [A voice : 
" Grood," and applause.] 

We congratulate you upon going into your second 
century with such reverence and enthusiasm for the past ; 
and I venture to express the hope that, as your new cen- 
tury opens, filled with problems more complicated, more 
intricate, more taxing and difficult than ever have sur- 
rounded the American college before, you may support 
your administration here, as it puts out its new ideas, its 



276 UNION COLLEGE. 

new methods, its new discoveries, with the same enthu- 
siasm, the same devotion, the same love for Union which 
you manifest here to-day for your honorable past. [Ap- 
plause.] 



* 



President Raymond : Union College has always had a door open toward 
the South, and a warm hand of greeting for every visitor and traveler from 
the Land of Chivalry. Where names are honored no words are needed to 
express our appreciation of the presence of Professor John Randolph Tucker 
[applause], who comes to us in the name of Washington and Lee University. 



SPEECH OF JOHN KANDOLPH TUCKEE, 

Professor in Washington and Lee University. 

MR, PRESIDENT, Trustees, and Alumni of Union 
College : I thank you, sir, very heartily for the kind 
way in which you have introduced me to this audience ; 
and I can say that it is with very great pleasure that I 
stand here to extend my greetings to this old institution 
at the closing of its first and the opening of its second 
century of usefulness and distinction. It so happens, I 
think, in looking around this board and in looking over 
this audience, that I am well-nigh the oldest man here ; 
and that I heard of Dr. Nott almost before any man here 
ever heard of him. I am no stranger to Union College ; 
for, nearly sixty years ago, a young man who was a 
bachelor of arts of this institution taught me the classics 
and mathematics in a private school in my father's family 
in Virginia; and I knew then from him the nature and 
character of Dr. Eliphalet Nott, who presided over this 
institution at that time. [Applause.] And old Dr. Nott's 
name has been a kind of household word with me ever 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 277 

since, and I honor him and honor the university of which 
he was the illustrious president. I owe something to this 
institution on another ground. It did me the honor to 
invite me to address its law students at Albany some 
years ago, which I had the pleasure of doing ; and I come 
to-day, on behalf of the university of which I am a hum- 
ble and earnest professor, to extend to you my greetings 
on this auspicious anniversary. There are several things 
about your institution which touch my sympathy and 
strike me as analogous to our own. In the first place 
you took your first president from Virginia. Dr. John 
Blair Smith, the first president of Union College in 1795, 
was taken from old Hampden Sidney College in the State 
of Virginia, of which he was then president — I believe 
that is true, Mr. President. 

There is also much sympathy between your institution 
and ours in that, while you are, as we are or profess to 
be, a deeply religious institution, there is no sectarianism 
or denominationalism in the polity of either. 

There is another thing that I hear about your institu- 
tion which I sympathize with very greatly, and that is, 
that instead of multitudinous regulations for the conduct 
of young men in your institution, you put them upon the 
platform of honor, personal honor, as the only basis on 
which the collegian's life can be properly regulated. That 
is the method of government in our institutions. An ap- 
peal to the honor of a young American is the highest 
appeal that can be made. If he cannot behave himself 
as a student upon his honor, he cannot come into any of 
our institutions: that is all there is about that. [Ap- 
plause.] 

Now, Mr. President, as the representative of the only 
institution south of Mason and Dixon's line here to-day, 
I do not feel solitary and alone, because there are bonds 
between you and me which make me feel at home. Let 
me tell you something of this old institution with which 
18*' 



278 UNION COLLEGE. 

I am connected, and very briefly. It is now Washington 
and Lee University ; it was old Liberty Hall Academy 
founded by the Scotch-Irish migration from the Cumber- 
land Valley in Pennsylvania into the Valley of Virginia, 
between the years 1730 and 1740. They established what 
they called " Liberty Hall Academy " in the town of Lex- 
ington where I live ; and at the close of the Revolution, 
Virginia presented to the father of this country, as an 
evidence of her affection and esteem and as a reward for 
his services, fifty thousand dollars of the stock in a great 
waterway which was to connect the ocean with the Ohio 
River. True to the instincts of his unique and splendid 
patriotism, he declined any compensation for his public 
services. In the eloquent language of Lord Camden on 
another occasion, " he knew that the price of his work 
was immortality, and that posterity would pay it " ; but 
he asked that the fifty thousand dollars of stock in this 
company should be appropriated to Liberty Hall Acad- 
emy ; and Liberty Hall Academy was then incorporated 
in the year 1788 with that as its only endowment, and 
was named Washington College after the father of his 
country. It afterwards received increased endowments 
from the Society of the Cincinnati, and from a generous 
citizen, John Robinson. This college continued in opera- 
tion until the late war between the North and the South, 
the close of which found it a good deal broken up. The 
trustees invited to the presidency of the institution Gen- 
eral Robert E. Lee, who, putting aside the memory of an 
illustrious and wonderful military career, assumed the 
garb of a patriotic citizen of a restored and united coun- 
try. [Applause.] He consecrated the last five years of his 
life to instructing the youth of the land by the thousands, 
who gathered there under his direction, to become the 
patriotic citizens of a common and undivided country. At 
his death the college asked for a change of its charter and 
a change of its name, and united with the name of Wash- 



CENTENNIAL, BANQUET. 279 

ington the name of Lee under the title of Washington and 
Lee University. 

Whatever differences there may be between us in refer- 
ence to past events, there is no difference between us on 
the great subjects which have called us together to-day. 
Thank God! learning, philosophy and science, religion 
and morality, have no sectionalism, have no locality ; their 
domicile is everywhere; their home is the world. And 
we are together to-day shaking hands, not across any 
chasm, but shaking hands across this festive board, as 
friends for the elevation of American manhood by the 
extension of all the educational methods within our reach. 
In diverse localities we are cooperators in the same move- 
ment — you in your locality, we in ours. It is ours, as 
yours, to train American manhood to be broad, profound, 
catholic, and generous ; to hold up the constitution of our 
fathers, with all its amendments, as the sheet anchor of 
the hope of the Union of all these American Common- 
wealths. We have a government derived from institu- 
tional principles ; but a government founded on a written 
constitution, to which every man owes unlimited allegi- 
ance. It is ours to train every young American to cling- 
to this constitution of a renewed union with unfailing 
fidelity, and to make it a power for the maintenance of 
our American civilization and our constitutional liberties 
in all their pristine integrity ; and to perpetuate them to 
the generations that are to come; and furthermore to 
cause it by its splendid example (to paraphrase the elo- 
quent language of Webster) to circle the whole earth, not 
with the martial strains of any land or any nation, but 
with the divine strains of glory to God in the highest and 
on earth peace and good will towards men. [Applause.] 

Mr. President, the waning hours of the evening and 
the limitation that I understood to be upon me, make me 
desist from any further speaking, except to add that I 
come to you with greetings from our institution of learn- 



280 UNION COLLEGE. 

ing, — not authorized, because I did not expect to be here, 
and Washington and Lee did not know I was coming 
here ; but I undertake to say that I convey no more than 
they wonld authorize me to convey, — I come with greet- 
ings from the universities and colleges of Virginia to yon 
on this auspicious centennial anniversary. We bid you 
Grodspeed in the great work in which we are all engaged, 
to build up American civilization upon a Christian basis 
not only for ourselves and our posterity, but as a bene- 
faction to all mankind. [Long applause.] 



¥ 



President Raymond : After Washington, what name shall I mention if 
not Hamilton ? The college that perpetuates the name of Alexander Ham- 
ilton is represented by Professor Oren Eoot. 



SPEECH OF OREN ROOT, 

Professor in Hamilton College. 

MR. PRESIDENT and Gentlemen of the Alumni: I 
thought as I found my way from the hills of Oneida 
that it was very many years since the messengers from 
the second station of the Iroqnois " Long honse " brought 
their greetings to the others who stood at the eastern 
gate. It is more than a hundred years since those fleet- 
footed messengers of the Oneidas brought their greetings 
to the home of the Mohawks. I have come to-day, putting 
behind me the wonted joys of my own college commence- 
ment that I might bring to you the greetings of Hamilton. 
I do not know that I can tell very much of the obliga- 
tions under which we rest. We shall have a centennial 
not many years hence, and perhaps, as college ages run, 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 281 

we are a little too near the age of Union to have had any 
very marked influence pass from the one to the other. 
There have been influences, however, and they have been 
potent in the life of Hamilton College. I can remember 
but one student who left the halls of Union to come to 
Hamilton College ; but he bore with him the badge and 
the spirit of his fraternity, and that has been a power in 
Hamilton College from that day to this. As I look at 
my friend whom I knew once as Tutor De Remer, and 
recall his fraternity, I know that Hamilton College has 
paid the debt. There have been other influences, not a 
few, but they have been slight. I could tell you of one 
that undoubtedly would escape the eye of the historian. 
A little more than forty years ago a Hamilton professor 
came to your campus. He found on its northern corner 
the home and the garden of Professor Jackson ; and wind- 
ing through the walks of the garden and among its shad- 
ows, the thought came to him of the possibilities for 
something of the kind that lay in the land just southward 
of his home. And he went back to that home on the 
Clinton hills, and there out of his meager professor's sal- 
ary, he added acre after acre and acre after acre to his 
ground, and all the time before him was the beautiful 
suggestion from this beautiful garden, mentioned, I 
know, again and again in this week of rejoicing ; and to- 
day the garden of Professor Jackson is reproduced as 
nearly as may be just on the edge of the Hamilton campus. 
Year by year, through these more than forty years, there 
have been going out through these gardens the educa- 
tional influences that, all unseen, aud often unrealized, 
are mightier than we dream in the formation, not so 
much of scholarship, perhaps, but of character, in our 
college boys. 

I desire, sir, to congratulate you on this hundred years. 
I have heard it named over and over again as a hundred 
years old. Mr. President, it is not a hundred years old 



282 UNION COLLEGE. 

at all. It is a hundred years young, not old. There is no 
such thing as soul-age. I feel sometimes like uttering a 
protest against what we call a revival of the past. It is 
because our ears are deaf that there is no singing of the 
song. It is because we cannot see it, as it softly moves 
through the shadows. 

There is no revival. There is life forever, and always 
out of the far past, and I do not altogether care whether 
we know its face or not. I have no particular desire for 
mummy companionship as it comes out from under the 
Lybian hills, because I know that to our life that old 
Egyptian civilization has come along Hebraic and Hel- 
lenic lines. Let the dead bury their dead. We have 
changed it now. Let the dead past bury its dead. Aye ! 
But out of that dead past there has gone always its living 
self, and let not that be buried ! When the living self 
out of any past is buried, then there come the dark ages, 
but the life moves on. Do any of us dream that there is 
less of very life in the questions of Socrates, in the words 
that come to us from Plato, than rested there when they 
were first spoken by the iEgean ? Their soul was buried 
in the dark ages, and the schoolmen heaped their ques- 
tions about them ; but the living in that dead past came 
forth. Such a gathering as this to-day shows that your 
past is living, that the past of Union is as active as it 
ever was. I see now and then in the newspapers a note 
to the effect that " So-and-So " is the oldest living gradu- 
ate of this or that college. In the broadest and truest 
sense the oldest living graduate of Union is the first 
name on its century's roll of graduates, the first man who 
here received the honors of his scholarly career. 

I am glad that there is this loyalty to Union, — glad 
from my own heart, not only, but glad I know from the 
heart of Hamilton. It is a grand thing to be loyal, — 
loyal not to the past of things, but to the soul of things. 
It is grand, brethren, to be actively loyal; grand to 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 283 

be joyously loyal ; loyal singing ; loyal to music, as the 
sailors on the Trenton in the harbor of Samoa. Amid 
the fury of the hurricane and the madness of the sea, as 
the great flagship was drifting on the breakers, they ran 
up the Stars and Stripes to the foremast, while the band 
struck up the " Star Spangled Banner." That was loy- 
alty, loyalty in the face of death, and it was glad loyalty 
to music. From knowledge of the years of the past, we 
can hope for the years to be that the sons of Union shall 
be loyal. 

As I glanced over your centennial catalogue of '94 and 
'95, I recognized here and there what even my slight 
knowledge of your great roster told me were the sons 
of other generations, the far generation, perhaps ; and it is 
our hope that for you there shall be this active loyalty to 
the soul of things, and that your one hundred years shall 
lengthen into two hundred years, and that you will still 
go on and on to an eternal superlative. [Applause.] 



* 



President Raymond said : Many and strong are the ties which unite us 
with Amherst. I forbear to mention them as I introduce Professor Anson 
D. Morse, who speaks to us in the name of Amherst. 



SPEECH OF ANSON D. MORSE, 

Professor in Amherst College. 

MR. PRESIDENT, and Gentlemen of Union: I have 
listened with interest and approval to the expres- 
sions of gratitude to Union which have been so frequent 
at this gathering ; and yet through it all I have felt the 
conviction that there is no college that owes so great a 



284 UNION COLLEGE. 

debt to Union as Amherst. It is more than twenty years 
ago that your distinguished alumnus, professor, and presi- 
dent, Dr. Laurens P. Hickok, came to Amherst to make 
his home there. It is true that he never held an official 
relationship to the college ; but from the day he came to 
the end of the twenty years which he spent there, he was 
a powerful factor in its life. I remember well (for it was 
in my own undergraduate days) the sensation that his 
coming made. To many of us he seemed the embodiment 
of philosophy. And those of us who had the privilege 
of making his personal acquaintance, received from him 
that very best gift which the young can receive from 
their elders, nainety, an enlargement of ideas and an en- 
nobling of ideals. But the influence of Dr. Hickok on 
Amherst began earlier and lasted longer than his sojourn 
with us. More than a dozen years previous to his arrival 
at Amherst, his kinsman, interpreter, and disciple, our 
lamented President Seelye, settled at Amherst as professor 
of mental and moral philosopl^ ; and the system which 
he taught was the system which Dr. Hickok had elabo- 
rated. Whatever else we may say of that system, every 
Amherst man believes that it is a strong system, and 
knows that at Amherst it has been strongly and efficiently 
taught. I believe that it is the simple truth to say that, 
for more than one third of a century, the influence of 
this philosophy has entered as a structural element into 
the mental and moral character of every thoughtful 
Amherst graduate. 

It is, Mr. President, because of this immeasurable ser- 
vice, that our greeting is something very unlike and far 
superior to a merely formal expression of interest and 
good will in your centennial. [Applause.] 



% 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 285 

President Raymond then said: The question has doubtless occurred to 
many, in consideration of the well-known position of the Dutch upon the 
question of education, Why did not a college appear in the Mohawk Valley 
as early at least as any college in New England ? The answer is found in 
the fact that New England colleges began as schools for the training of Chris- 
tian ministers, because Puritanism had broken away from the Church of 
England, and so from the great English universities, thus cutting off its 
candidates for the ministry from the sources of learning in the mother coun- 
try. Holland, on the other hand, retaining the sympathy and affectionate 
allegiance of her colonists in America, remained still the fountain from 
which the Dutch upon this side of the Atlantic supplied their clergy with 
learning. They either brought their ministers from Holland, or sent their 
sons to Holland to be educated. When the final separation came between 
the Dutch at home and the Dutch in America, Rutgers College was organ- 
ized ; and Rutgers College was amply sufficient for many years to fill all the 
requirements of the Dutch Church. I think that this may explain why there 
was not a Dutch college in the Mohawk Valley as early as a college any- 
where in New England. It is well known that the foundations of Union 
College were laid by the sons of Holland. That is enough in itself to bring 
us into closest fellowship with Rutgers College. My own personal relations 
with Rutgers College have been very intimate, through my graduation at the 
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, and my ministry for several years in 
the Reformed (Dutch) Church. On behalf of the college, and, personally, 
with warm esteem, I greet President Scott, of Rutgers College. 



SPEECH OF AUSTIN SCOTT, 

President of Rutgers College. 

MR. PRESIDENT, Gentlemen of Union : In calling 
upon Rutgers, whose origin was Dutch, you are get- 
ting back to first principles. We have learned lately that 
the Dutch did it all. We have all read Campbell's book, 
and know that England is the result of the Dutch, and 
America is a product of the Dutch. We have now got 
into the house. Up to this time, Mr. President, you have 
been on the porch. You have had the neighborly greet- 
ings, and it has been very pleasant out there on the porch; 
but it has been the porch. Now you are in the house. 
A moment ago when you passed down the line I knew 
very well what your thought was when you did not sum- 



286 UNION COLLEGE. 

mon the representative of Rutgers in the order marked 
out upon the roster here. I knew it was because we were 
the real sister. I knew that, though the flocking in of 
these gentle maidens to the gossip and talk there on the 
steps of the veranda was very pleasant, when we got up 
into our chamber and were taking down our back hair, 
then we would have all the confidences of sisters. [Con- 
vulsive laughter.] 

Further than that, Mr. President, when I perceived 
your evident knowledge of and familiarity with all the 
forces that have made that that is and that that is to be, 
to which my honored friend here upon the right has paid 
such a magnificent tribute, of the strength of America, 
its educational system and its ideals, I knew all the time 
when you were showing such familiarity and the usual 
presidential omniscience, — all the time I knew you were 
Dutch, sir. [Laughter.] I remembered what a friend 
of mine said to some students who were coming to be 
admitted into Michigan University. Instead of saying, 
" Are you well prepared for the examination in Greek ? " 
he said to one young man, " Do you know Greek ! " And 
the youngster said, " I don't know Greek, but I have been 
in contact with it about twelve years." I remembered 
that our honored president to-day had passed Rutgers 
College for several years on his way up the hill to the 
seminary. And if that were not enough, look at his 
name and see these two Dutch " Y's " cuddled up there ! 
That which will ever keep in poise the ideal work that 
the president is to do is to preserve there the balance of 
the two " Vs". Spell it always with a " wee". [Laughter.] 

Mr. President, the hour is late. The time warns me 
that I must only say a word. What shall it be 1 Yester- 
day I took a stroll through Captain Jack's garden, and, 
so far as the day allowed, toward the confines, if there 
be such, of your campus, though I take it, it is like 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 287 

Paddy's rope — the end is cut off. I do not know, sir, 
why that may not be typical of your college, which stands 
in that respect as the representative of them all. You 
have heard here from one and another and another, of 
how Union College has touched their interests and has 
fostered their hopes, and you have heard the tribute all 
around the circle paid to Union. Somehow or other I 
feel that Union represents the horizon. You remember 
one of the happiest mots in Proctor Knott's Duluth speech 
was that Duluth was very peculiar in this respect, that it 
was equidistant from the horizon on all sides. [Laughter.] 
As I stood last night upon this campus of Union, the 
thought came to me, and it occurs again to-day as I hear 
these tributes from all around the circle, Is not Union 
College the horizon itself ? [Applause.] 

We cannot pay the debt we all owe, Mr. President, we 
cannot pay that debt any more than children can pay 
debts backward to their parents. The only way is to pay 
them forward, and to take just as good care of our chil- 
dren as our parents have taken of us. So, whatever we 
have received, and you are learning to know, as I think 
with all your presidential omniscience you have not known 
before, in the words that have been recited in your hear- 
ing to-day, what is the debt they owe all around the 
horizon. 

In that letter read in your hearing just now, Chancellor 
MacCracken spoke of the twelve colleges of New York as 
something like the twelve apostles. It occurred to me at 
once to name them, and when I thought of the place that 
this dear college should take, I thought of its appropriate 
name. You will remember that when the centurion said 
to St. Paul, " With a great cost obtained I this freedom," 
St. Paul said in righteous pride, " But I was free born." 
St. Paul among the colleges, Mr. President, is this Col- 
lege of Union. We have heard that liberty and union 



288 UNION COLLEGE. 

should be one and inseparable. Here, sir, we have it. 
Liberty presided at Union's birth. Union it is ; Union it 
will be. Esto perpetua ! [Prolonged applause.] 



* 



President Raymond : Before announcing the last speaker, I wish to call 
your attention to the fact that this instrument which I hold in my hand is 
made from pieces of wood taken from the class elm in the college garden, 
and from Dr. Nott's three-wheeled chariot. It was popularly supposed in my 
college days that he went up in the three-wheeled chariot. How did we come 
by this ? [Laughter.] 

I wish also to call attention to the fact that Mrs. Raymond and myself will 
he very glad to see you at our home as you pass from here or the college gar- 
den this afternoon. We shall toe at home from five o'clock until six, and 
shall be glad to welcome you. 

We might toe willing to call Rutgers the real sister, if it were not for Vas- 
sar. [Applause and laughter.] Union has shown her regard for the educa- 
tion of women by giving the first President to Elmira College, to Rutgers 
Female Seminary, to Smith College, and to Vassar College. We are glad to 
welcome the present President, Dr. Taylor, the successor to the Union 
President of Vassar College. 



SPEECH OF JAMES H. TAYLOE, 

President of Vassar College. 

MR. PRESIDENT : As befits, I suppose, a man trained 
in early days in homiletics, I have thought of an 
appropriate text, and it seems to me that my mind has 
just lighted upon a proper one: Last of all, the woman ! 
[Laughter.] It was ever thus ; at least since that one oc- 
casion on which she got ahead of the man in the Garden 
of Eden ; and man has abundantly rewarded her for that 
one forward step. 

I have thought as I have sat here, expecting to be called 
upon in due time to bring the sympathies of educated 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 289 

women as a greeting to Union, — I have thought of the 
fact that all this galaxy of colleges represented here to- 
day by their special delegates have brought the greetings 
of those who believe in the education of American man- 
hood ; and I stand alone as representing the colleges 
which have stood from beginning to end for the educa- 
tion of American womanhood. We do not bring our greet- 
ings to you, Mr. President, in any apologetic form to-day. 
We have fought our battle and we have won our victory. 
The colleges which are represented here to-day have one 
after another followed in the steps of that victory ; they 
are opening their doors to women, as perhaps Union 
will. One after another the universities are opening their 
higher courses to women, — the universities represented 
on this platform to-day. But it has been a battle, and 
many of you who are gathered here to-day have seen 
that battle fought, and have known through what ignor- 
ance and through what superstition and through what 
opposition of all sorts these colleges for women have at 
last wou their way to the front, and deserve to-day, and 
receive, the respect of all men who know anything of 
their work and their standards. I do not mean to say 
that all this opposition has passed away. I do not mean 
to say, even in this presence, that the time has come 
when it is not still necessary, here and there, to defend 
the cause of educated womanhood. It seems a strange 
and pathetic thing, when you think of it. I have thought, 
as I have heard several references this afternoon to the 
struggles of the men of early times in pursuit of an edu- 
cation, of those women, of those mothers, who were behind 
those struggles, and who sacrificed and wrought, as their 
fathers sacrificed and wrought, that their sons might be 
graduates of Union College — women to whom the mere 
common right of an education was denied, and denied of- 
tentimes in the name of religion itself. It is well, Mr. 
President, that we have passed beyond the darkness of 
19 



290 UNION COLLEGE. 

those days. It is well that with the growth of this century, 
with its close for Union to-day, we can say that we stand 
to-day, not for the education of American manhood, not 
for the education of American womanhood, but for that 
which is beneath and above them both, the education of 
human personality, the right of every soul to develop itself 
and its powers to their utmost. As Matthew Vassar said, 
he found that the Creator seemed to have endowed women 
with the same intellectual attributes with which he had 
endowed men, and he did not see why she had not the 
same right to intellectual improvement and cultivation. 
And yet the world at large has not yet grasped that truth ; 
and in a large proportion, even of our colleges to-day, 
there is not a full acceptance of all that that means to the 
future of this and of coming generations. 

So I say, Mr. President, that in bringing to you the 
greetings, as I think I may to-day, of all the women's col- 
leges, we recognize our debt to Union. We bring as 
those who are laboring with you in the same work and 
for the same end — we bring our greeting, our sympathy, 
and our hope for your success. And as I think of the 
sainted' Raymond, that admirable scholar, that man of 
broad culture, that executive of rare ability who organ- 
ized Vassar College, I can only hope that the Raymond 
of Union may have vouchsafed to him the admiration 
and the praise and the genuine success which have been 
accorded to the Raymond of Union and of Vassar. 
[Applause.] 

Mr. President, it is too late an hour for me to say more 
than this word of greeting. Not on behalf of the college 
which I represent alone, but on behalf of that small com- 
pany of women's colleges, well endowed, as American 
colleges go, well officered, progressive in their aims, high 
in their standards, and successful in their attainments, 
I bring to you — I have been wondering how I should ad- 
dress you, as I heard one and another speak, and refer to 



CENTENNIAL BANQUET. 291 

our sister colleges — I bring to you as our older brother the 
greeting of the women's colleges. [Applause.] 

[Before the conclusion of the Centennial Banquet the Ivy Exercises had 
begun at the "Old Elm" in the college garden under the auspices of the 
Class of 1895. At 5 p. m. a delightful reception was given by President and 
Mrs. Raymond at the President's residence.] 



EVENING SESSION, 
Commemorative 9CDbrc££e£ anb Centennial $oem. 

Eev. Charles D. Nott, D. D., of the Class of 1854, 

PRESIDING. 

Dr. Nott in opening the exercises of the evening spoke 
as follows : 

THE Autocrat tells us that the wonderful one-horse 
shay went all to pieces — dust to dust — on its hun- 
dredth day. And so it seems with most things earthly — 
the older they grow the weaker they become. There must 
be, however, according to the law, exceptions to prove 
the rule. And all her sons rejoice to-day to believe that 
dear old Union is one of those exceptions to this rule of 
decadence. 

Though her walls grow gray our alma mater appears 
to have drunk from the "brook that bounds through 
Union's grounds" — whose source is the fabled fountain 
of perpetual youth ; and the years of her century, instead 
of marking her decadence, have but enabled her to swing 
toward her prime — which still lies somewhere on in the 
years to come. 

If the Autocrat knew of but two things that keep their 
youth — a tree and truth — we have learned of a third, 
Union College, and we, her living sons, surround her to- 

19* 293 



294 UNION COLLEGE. 

day, thankful for her excellent health, for her comfort- 
able circumstances and proud of her looks, modestly hop- 
ing that her sons in the future will be as beautiful and 
altogether lovely boys as are we who now gather about 
her on this, the day of her hundredth year. 

Colleges, like the men who make them, or the men they 
make,..have their days of trial. Old Union is no excep- 
tion to this rule. She has had her periods of storm and 
stress, yet, like Antaeus, she never touched the earth 
but to renew her strength. And now, on the threshold 
of her second century, they who know her and are best 
qualified to speak, affirm that at no period of her history 
has her condition been more sound than at the present. 
Fortunate in her condition, fortunate in her new presi- 
dent, fortunate in public esteem, and in the number and 
character of her students, her future is as bright with 
promise as her past is glorious. 

In her sympathies Union College is neither sectarian 
nor sectional. She owes allegiance to no denomination, 
and she is as proud of her sons in South Carolina as of 
those in Massachusetts. Neither was Union College in 
the past, nor is she in the present, private family prop- 
erty. The old regime of her great president did its work 
and passed away. 

A new order of things has arisen with a new century, 
and I — almost the last of the Mohicans and representing 
much of what is left of the tribe — stat magni nominis 
umbra — acknowledge no alumnus more loyal to Union 
College and her best interests than I am. So then, with 
love and hope, we bid our alma mater Godspeed as she 
passes into her second century. 

The laws of a State are supposed to be for the good of 
the people and yet are not always so ; for by a well- 
known law, the people of this State are deprived of the 
services of the most eminent judges just at the time 
when, from ripest experience, their powers are at their 



ADDKESS. 295 

best. A man who for fourteen years held the position of 
a Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New 
York, a station than which none is more honored among 
us, and who won the highest honors for sound judgment 
and profound learning, is a student and an alumnus of 
whom any institution may well be proud ; and it affords 
me great pleasure to present to you to-night such an 
alumnus of Union College in the person of Judge 
Danforth. [Applause.] 



ADDEESS 

BY HON. GEORGE F. DANFORTH, LL. D. 

Of the Class of 1840. 

subject: eliphalet nott. 

ME. PRESIDENT: I should feel under very great 
embarrassment in addressing this assembly, if I had 
not reason to suppose that the felicity of the occasiou and 
subject upon which our addresses are to be made would 
so interest an audience in this city that any shortcom- 
ings on the part of the speaker would be excused. For 
that reason, and for that reason alone, I venture to run 
the risk of criticism and to travel over ground which may 
be said to be already well trodden. Indeed the events of 
to-day and yesterday show that the topics upon which I 
am to address you have already been brought to your at- 
tention and my only hope is that I shall neither weaken 
nor mitigate the effect of that which has already been so 
well said. 

Esteem and honor have to-day been given in large mea- 
sure to our college : the Regents of the University which 
wrote its charter have by its Chancellor rehearsed our 
obedience to its injunctions, representatives of other 
institutions acknowledge their indebtedness to our ex- 
ample, and all have found reason to congratulate us upon 
the consequence of this occasion. They have, in earnest 
and glowing words of estimation, anticipated the tribute 



ADDEESS. 297 

we would pay to him whose whole life was devoted to 
the creation, growth, and reputation of Union College. 

At the risk, therefore, of being censured for traveling 
again over ground already well trodden, I propose to take 
advantage of this opportunity to recall some of the rea- 
sons for a student's gratitude to his alma mater for bene- 
fits received, and his reverence for the man whose wise 
and efficient guidance made those benefits possible. 

Through a happy coincidence of the year with the day, — 
by the several acts of celebration which at this season 
engage our attention, and of which this public demon- 
stration is one, — we solemnize at once the first full cen- 
tenary of years from the foundation of the college, and, 
on this the one hundred and twenty-second anniversary 
of the day of his birth, preserve the memory and com- 
memorate the services of one who was not only so gifted 
by nature as to be capable of shaping Union College, but, 
by length of life, of leaving it the noblest example of suc- 
cessful administration which academic or collegiate his- 
tory affords. 

It is well and seemly that we do so ; for in the long 
catalogue of those concerning whom some information 
might reasonably be sought, we find the name of Eliphalet 
Nott and his stewardship outlined in the latest encyclo- 
pedia of names, that of 1894, in lines fewer than the fin- 
gers of the hand which turns the page on which it stands. 

We there learn that he was an " American educator, — 
President of Union College," and so far as I can find, the 
college itself is not otherwise mentioned than as his arena, 
his field of operation. 

The record is brief ; but on this day, and here, in the 
midst of the traditions of this city, where for more than 
half a century he served the college and every interest 
of education, it means much. 

He was not merely an instructor, confined to the books; 
he was not an author ; he did not compose treatises ; he 



298 UNION COLLEGE. 

was an educator standing for ideals, in politics, in religion, 
in all things which concerned men. Though by profes- 
sion a clergyman and devoted to his calling, he was an 
exception to the criticism that "clergymen understand 
the least and take the worst measure of human affairs of 
all mankind that can write and read." In his lecture- 
room the two functions were as parts to the whole. He 
there inculcated high aims, and when he died left a 
marked impress upon the times. 

" It has been," he says, " my endeavor since I have had 
the care of youth to make men, rather than great scholars." 

To his class he said : " The folly of most people is they 
read too much. You should read but little yet analyze 
each book carefully. Be persuaded to think." 

He did not wait for the farewell sermon to deliver his 
advice and warnings and encouragements to the gradu- 
ating class. He met it at the door of the class-room and 
admonished its members : " You are approaching," he 
says, " that period when you must enter upon the great 
world, and if you would ever be men you must learn to 
be so now." He believed that a man got on better with a 
purpose and a plan, that transition merely is not progress. 
" As you pass this year," he said to the incoming seniors, 
" so you will probably pass your lives. Search your own 
minds, turn your thoughts upon some design, or course 
of life, that will entertain you with hopes ; mark out a 
laudable course of conduct, so will you go through life 
acquiring power and influence over men." 

" Don't think too much of the slate and pencil, but 
think a great deal of the sum you are to work out." 

But there was not much figurative language. He spoke 
plainly : " If you spend this year in indolence, and stoop to 
little, mean, and dirty conduct, it is likely you will con- 
tinue dirty, mean, and little while you live." 

His great object seemed to be the inculcation of such 
precepts as would induce in the students independence 



ADDRESS. 299 

of thought, fitness for action, and both encouraged by 
the assurance that the prizes of life would fall into the 
hand of him who strove earnestly after being qualified 'to 
receive them. Nor were these precepts left framed into 
general language alone. They were more than outlines. 
He called the attention of his pupils to posts of political, 
professional, and business importance, pointed out the 
one undisputed truth yet agreed on — that whoever lives 
must die ; that time was running against the occupant of 
these positions and in favor of the young man, pursuing 
the one to his departure and helping the other to the 
goal; that in the nature of things the pulpit becoming 
vacant must be filled; that justice must have its ser- 
vants, public offices be cared for ; that however good and 
excellent the constitution of government, none could pro- 
vide that magistrates or officers necessary to support it, 
however in themselves good and wise, should continue; 
and that when they departed they would leave the world 
much as they found it ; that honors, fortunes, places, and 
employments were yet to be had, — not by all because 
these objects were fewer in number than those seeking 
them, but by those who by preparation were best fitted 
for service. He agreed with Sir William Temple who 
had found " no talent of so much advantage among men 
towards their growing great, or rich, as a violent and 
restless passion and pursuit for one or the other," and was 
of his opinion, " that whosoever sets his heart and thoughts 
wholly upon some one thing must have very little wit or 
very little luck to fail." 

He insisted that thought was the cause of any ultimate 
success. His one great object, therefore, was to make his 
pupils think : " What use is it," he asks, " that some one 
else has thought or written and you have read his work 
without thinking f The time you have thus spent is 
almost wholly lost." 

He instructed his classes less in the theory than in the 



300 UNION COLLEGE. 

practice of philosophy ; taught theni how to regulate the 
operatious of their own minds and influence the minds of 
others ; that "of all sorts of instruction, the best is gained 
from our own thoughts as well as from experience, for 
though a man may grow learned by another man's 
thoughts, yet he will grow wise and happy only by his 
own ; that the proper use of other men's thoughts toward 
those ends is but to serve for one's own reflections." 
Such, we are assured, was his own habit. Doctor Way- 
land, at one time his pupil, and afterwards his associate, 
says of Doctor Nott : " Nothing in books seemed to him 
of any value unless he had thought it through and tested 
it by his own power of intellectual analysis." Thus his 
system was to develop, not to cram. 

Addressing the senior class, after referring to the stud- 
ies which had occupied them in other classes, he says : 
"Now you come to inquire into the principles of the 
mind, the causes of the emotions you have seen in it and 
the manner in which it is moved ; this you cannot learn 
without much reflection." 

In dealing with the individual, or with the class, the 
obtaining a diploma, or an apparent fullness of knowledge 
without nourishment to the mind, was not at all the ob- 
ject of the teacher. His avowed purpose, declared in the 
lecture-room, and condensed and reiterated in the most 
serious and impressive manner to each class as its mem- 
bers were about to separate, was to give the mind, the 
spirit, and the moral nature of each one of them that in- 
spiration which should enable him when he came into 
the stress of life to show that he was competent to do the 
work that he was sent to do. In fine, to him the student 
was not a child or mere pupil, but a son. On every suit- 
able occasion he urged upon him the adherence to moral 
principle and the necessity of religion in order to true 
success in the life that now is as well as in the life which 
is to come. 

At recitations, the exercises in his lecture-room were 



ADDKESS. 301 

brief; the subject in hand was discussed and examined 
his own views presented, showing the consequences which 
flowed from the truth enunciated, and applied it to the 
various forms of individual, social and political life. He 
dwelt much upon the difference between character and 
reputation: what men think you to be; what you really 
are. The ingenuous student carried away with him these 
lessons, and felt that gratitude which " every man feels 
to him who speaks well for the right, who translates truth 
into language entirely plain and clear." 

Concerning oratory he had much to say. His views 
were instructive, not philosophical. He said to his class : 
" This man and the other man may tell you, you ought to 
speak so and so, but I never found any one whose teach- 
ings profited. Eloquence is purely natural : when excite- 
ment or feeling exists, in all nations and in all languages, 
you will find all eloquent from the little child to the de- 
crepit old man." 

Of books I think Dr. Nott talked little. He said: " Taci- 
tus is good; Shakspere is beyond all; the Bible is the 
only book that I never found wrong. Its accounts of 
human nature are all true, according perfectly with the 
principles of Philosophy, though never treating of it." 

He impressed his classes with the idea that every man 
can be really great if he will trust his own high instinct, 
think his own thought, and say his own word. 

He spoke of a preceding class as " having maintained 
dignity and an excellent character through their college 
course," and added, "Although they were in no wise re- 
markable for their talents, yet some of them will be great 
and have no small influence, and this in consequence of 
the manner in which they spent their senior year." 

He was careful concerning the health of the students, 
bodily as well as mental : as they did not live according 
to nature, they must consult reason, and of course adapt 
their diet and all their habits to their sedentary life. 

Students are easily moved to laughter by jokes and 



302 UNION COLLEGE. 

witticisms of the teacher, and occasion was sometimes 
had before Dr. Nott, who himself thought well of laughter, 
declaring it to be, as I have been told, "the final cause of 
health"; but I fancy he rarely laughed himself — cer- 
tainly not in the presence of his class. The Methodists, 
he said, lived not so long as other denominations ; first 
because of excessive preaching ; second, • not enough 
laughter. 

I am well aware that the little sentences and the brief, 
unconnected members or paragraphs of instruction which 
I have reproduced, can convey a very faint, if any, im- 
pression of the method of Doctor Nott in the class-room. 

However it might be at the beginning, before the nov- 
elty of the situation had been worn away by the student's 
interest and curiosity in the manner of this new teacher, 
before he had sat at his feet many days there was an in- 
terchange of minds between teacher and pupil. The prob- 
ing question of the master was addressed to the pupil, 
for the ascertainment not so much of his knowledge as 
his capacity. The discoveries thus made were applied to 
useful ends — perhaps in the recitation room, perhaps in 
the students' dormitory, possibly, though after other ven- 
tures, in the Doctor's office. But whether on the side- 
walk, in room, or office, the whole course of instruction 
tended to one single result : preparation for the duties of 
practical life ; encouragement for a bold, earnest, uncom- 
promising entrance upon it. Theory without facts pal- 
pable and known was evidently a pastime, and wholly 
foreign to the purpose of the teacher; while practice 
without a knowledge of principles was a blind mechan- 
ism for which he had no use. I do not know that Doctor 
Nott put in writing his instructions, — perhaps in later 
years a synopsis, — but in some way or other, apparently 
without interference or aid from the author, several of 
his discourses, under the title of "Counsels to Young 
Men," were put in print — among the number, the sub- 



ADDEESS. 303 

stance, apparently, of several baccalaureate addresses. 
In these, moral precepts are not lacking ; reliance upon 
God and his holy word enforced, but there was impressed 
upon the young man that, these observed, submission to 
the impulse acquired in college would ensure after suc- 
cess even in the most worldly view of life. 

It has been said that " there is an American disease, a 
paralysis of the active faculties, which falls on young 
men of this country as soon as they have finished their 
college education, which strips them of all manly aims 
and bereaves them of animal spirits ; so that the noblest 
youths are in a short time converted into pale caryatides 
to uphold the temple of conventions," despairing to find 
other employments, or at least such as will satisfy them. 
There was small reason for this disorder in the mind of 
Dr. Nott's pupils. If the disciple had learned anything, it 
was that the value of college education is not in itself 
but in what it leads to. He had been taught to do his 
best, to trust his own convictions, exercise mental inde- 
pendence, rely on personal responsibility and effort. 

Notwithstanding all this, there is diffidence and timid- 
ity. The master reads the heart of the student and trans- 
lates it: "As you approach the world," he says, "every 
place of honor, of confidence, of profit, appears preoc- 
cupied; there seems to be no room for action. . . . Be- 
lieve me," he continues, " it is a deceptive view that you 
are taking. If all those places of honor, of profit, of con- 
fidence, are not already vacant, it is precisely the same 
to you as if they were so. Death and age are vacating, 
and will vacate them in time for you to occupy. ... And 
all that intelligence and virtue, that active and successful 
talent which adorns the age, will disappear, and its hon- 
ored possessors, conducted in succession to their graves, 
will molder amid sepulchral ashes, forgotten, or remem- 
bered only by the monuments of glory they shall have 
during their transitory life erected. As you advance," 



304 UNION COLLEGE. 

he says, " the stage will clear before you, and all the hon- 
ors of state, church, the world, will be committed to you." 
He paints, in his address, with glowing colors the pos- 
sibilities of life and asks: "Are you willing merely to 
grovel through life ; to creep away like unfledged reptiles 
from their cells, and, buried in obscurity, pass your fu- 
ture years in inglorious sloth till finally, mere excres- 
ences, you perish unnoticed and unlamented?" Then 
going from selfish considerations to wider fields of use- 
fulness : " You ask," he says, " what can a mere individ- 
ual hope to accomplish ! What !" he exclaims. " Almost 
any thing he wills to undertake and dares to persevere 
in. Each of you possesses a capacity for doing either 
good or evil which human foresight cannot measure nor 
human power limit." He invoked as illustrations the 
names of men who had formed a place for themselves in 
the world's history, and whose thoughts had become em- 
bodied in material results : as Cyrus at Babylon, Csesar 
at Rome, Constantine at Byzantium, Howard in philan- 
thropy, Sharp, Clarkson, and Lancaster, who had then 
recently, with very scanty material appliances, introduced 
a new era in the history of letters, and, he said, " rendered 
the houses of education like the temples of grace, accessi- 
ble to the poor." He was himself of great enthusiasm, with 
abounding love and interest in young men, and gifted 
with great ingenuity in devising plans both for teaching 
and governing ; the enthusiasm he felt he communicated 
to the young people of whom he took charge. They sub- 
mitted to its influence. In the line of his instruction was 
the declaration, made in their presence as part of his final 
blessing : " Though I were to exist no longer than those 
ephemera that sport in the beams of a summer morning, 
during that short hour I would rather soar with the eagle 
and leave the record of my flight, and of my fall, among 
the stars, than creep the gutter with the reptile, and hide 
my memory and my body together in the dunghill." 



ADDEESS. 305 

He proceeds to show, however, that although man is im- 
mortal, yet " upon this little ball and during this momen- 
tary life eternity is staked ; that hell is merited or heaven 
won; and this," he says, "is not conjectural, nor is it 
merely probable, but certain, infallibly certain." Indeed, 
in his addresses to the members of the college, whether 
on the last day or the commencement of a term, in chapel 
or church or lecture-room, he spake to them as persons 
not only possessed of intellect, capable of thought and 
affections, but as requiring motive for action, and sought 
to build up in them a strength of moral purpose, to be 
directed to self-improvement. He taught that the human 
spirit owed its emancipation and its progress to the be- 
lief that it is connected by an actual bond with its Crea- 
tor; and on all these subjects his views were presented 
with earnestness and affection, as from a heart warmed 
with the subject. He sought in all ways and at all times 
to make his pupils think of their own characters and 
future conditions. 

I conceive that in nothing I have said can cause be 
found for the great traditionary reputation which has 
come to us concerning Dr. Nott. Let me go further and, 
with short detail, call to mind some of the more tangible 
acts which furnish a larger justification. 

Following learned and expert officials, he entered upon 
the presidency of Union College at the age of thirty-one 
years ; in the order of his coming being its fourth presi- 
dent. He found the names of few students upon the 
catalogue, and a short curriculum. At once the number 
of students increased, the lines of study were enlarged, 
with each graduating class his fame spread abroad, and 
soon there came, from different parts of the country, many 
students. From private and public sources the treasury 
of the college was enriched. The State became and con- 
tinued to be its patron. He remained in office until Janu- 
ary 29, 1866, when, at the age of ninety-three, and after 
20 



306 UNION COLLEGE. 

an official life of sixty-two years, lie died. At that event 
misfortune seemed to assail the college. It had the usual 
complement of officers and faculty, and from time to time 
a president, one succeeding another, little space inter- 
vening, and the college, in its uncertainty of leadership, 
became like a ship tossed by a tempest and left at the 
mercy of the winds and waves. In 1890 its alumni felt 
moved to make, if possible, some provision against what 
appeared to be a fatal emergency. There was at once a 
revival of interest; meetings of the graduates were 
called ; they were held in many of the principal cities of 
this State. To that of New York City there came crowds 
of alumni, representatives of classes covering many years, 
and able, as by a composite picture, to clothe their teacher 
with a personality almost adequate, even in the eyes of 
those who had never seen or had personal knowledge of 
Doctor Nott, to account for the representation which for 
so many years had made that name famous. 

I draw from that picture as from one taken as it were 
in the very presence of the subject, and so fill up the 
narrow outline I have tried to sketch. On that occasion 
the hearts of the audience were full and turned to the 
memory of the master. Among them were honor-bearers 
of distinction in the State and in the nation, eminent 
physicians, men from the pulpit, the bar, teachers, repre- 
sentatives, men from various classes of the many whom 
he had taught. The speakers on that occasion testified 
concerning him, and, as by general consent, every demon- 
stration of affection was echoed by the audience ; every 
mention of his name was followed by applause. " Ah ! " 
said one speaker, himself famous in a neighboring State 
as a leader among men, " Ah ! brothers, we owe his name 
this applause ; but we give him also the silent, grateful 
homage of our hearts. If yonder door should open, and 
we could see entering there that majestic presence, that 
form of manly beauty, with what electric enthusiasm 



ADDKESS. 307 

should we rise to greet him and conduct him to the seat 
of honor." Said another speaker, then a Bishop of the 
Church : " How eloquent he was ; how skilful, how wise, 
how gentle, how loving in the management of young men. 
I have heard," he continued, " I have heard a great many 
men preach, but such power as Dr. Nott displayed in the 
pulpit, in his lectures, in the chapel, and in his instruc- 
tions in the class — such power to move the conscience, 
to touch the heart, to arouse the loftiest aspirations of 
the human mind, I have never heard excelled." 

So it continued ; one after another of his sons declar- 
ing, " We, all of us, owe all we are, all we have been, and 
all we can hope to be, to our loved and loving master." 
The fact that twenty-four years had passed since his death 
was unnoticed ; the inspiration of his teachings was so 
felt that the feelings, thoughts, desires, and memories it 
excited appeared possible only with the outward continu- 
ity of life. The room seemed full of expectation, as if the 
subject of eulogy and exfoliation had only delayed his 
coming. 

Such are some of the testimonies to his manifest use- 
fulness; the gratitude which he earned, the obligations 
which he conferred, and the value of his labor as the sub- 
stantial founder of Union College, the creator of its 
prestige and its power. 

Let me touch upon one other inquiry quite pertinent to 
our subject. How was the greatness of Dr. Nott achieved"? 
What warrant was there for the lofty estimate put upon 
his life and labors by his contemporaries ? 

It is not easy to get at the inner life of any man so as 
to rate him at his real value, but to do so in any degree 
we are usually compelled to examine his origin, the social 
influences to which he was subjected, the effects of edu- 
cation and the general conditions by which at the early 
periods of life he was surrounded. Such inquiries bring 
little aid on this occasion. 



308 UNION COLLEGE. 

The saying Nemo nasciter artifex, if ever true, has no 
application to Eliphalet Nott. He at the first opportunity 
exhibited skill and ability of the most practical kind. He 
did not acquire it by education as that word is usually in- 
terpreted, or by training, — he was no apprentice, — or from 
example, for in whatever he undertook he went to it as 
a pioneer ; power and facility were born in him. He was 
a preacher, but his fame as such began with the delivery 
of his first sermon, and was so enlarged and magnified as 
to make his ministrations desirable in the widest field 
and in the most influential and devout churches. Guided 
by no formulated rules of rhetoric, or lessons from the 
schools, he so improved the occasion of a conspicuous 
violation of the law of God and man, that his discourse 
and elegy on the death of Hamilton placed him in the 
front rank of orators, in the very place where Hamilton 
himself had stood. His style was equally distinguished for 
fluency and vigor. Without academic education himself, 
without useful experience, ignorant of the philosophy of 
the schools, un instructed even in the terms and verbiage 
of the books, he left the ministry at Albany to become 
president of the college. His predecessors, Smith, Ed- 
wards, Maxey, had passed through the academy and col- 
lege. They possessed the learning of the schools ; he had 
a college honor but no college career; yet, during his 
official life, he received as candidates for a degree imply- 
ing culture in the arts and sciences thousands of students, 
who had from him such advice and direction as promoted 
their success in life and made them not only his disciples, 
but, as we have seen, his lovers also. The college was 
poor; he invoked for it, through the State, large bene- 
factions. He was poor himself, but by his astuteness in 
business, and his discoveries and scientific inventions, 
he was able to acquire such fortune as by his gifts en- 
riched the institution. 

He wrote but little, was averse to correspondence, put, 



ADDEESS. 309 

so far as the public were enabled to know, few thoughts 
on paper, left no autobiography, not much material for 
the writing of a biography by any person, except as it 
might be gathered from his conduct from youth up. 

Indeed, he must be judged by the acts which he origi- 
nated, by what he did. In his youth there were no strik- 
ing incidents which distinguished his life from that of 
other New England boys. There was poverty; there was 
a pious, wise, affectionate mother. Save these aids, the 
processes by which he became what he was were inward; 
the action of a superior mind quite independent of out- 
ward advantages. He was a singular and an original 
person. His life and its achievements, as it seems to me, 
illustrate the observation of Dr. Channing, that "Whilst 
the Supreme Being encourages liberally the labors of ed- 
ucation by connecting them with many good and almost 
sure results, still, as if to magnify his own power and to 
teach men humility and dependence, he often produces 
with few or no means a strength of intellect and prin- 
ciple, a grace and dignity of character, which the most 
anxious human culture cannot confer." 

The little we know of his lectures excites a desire for 
more. It is doubtful, however, if at this day they would 
satisfy our expectations, — without his voice, his earnest- 
ness, his idea freshly suggested, — they would lack the 
persuasive power of the spoken word. So accompanied, 
his instructions formed an era in college life. They were 
not put in writing. In this respect he resembled Lycur- 
gus, of whom it is said: "He left none of his laws in 
writing .... for what he thought most conducive to the 
virtue and happiness of a State were principles, inter- 
woven with the manners and breeding of the people." 

These would, in his opinion, remain immovable as 
founded in inclination, and be the strongest and most 
lasting tie, and the habits produced in the youth would 
answer in each the purpose of a law-giver. 
20* 



X 



310 UNION COLLEGE. 

As for smaller matters, and whatever occasionally var- 
ied, it was better, lie thought, not to reduce these to a 
written form and method, but to suffer them to change 
with the times and to admit of additions and retrench- 
ments at the pleasure of persons so well educated. 

And as Lycnrgus resolved the whole business of legis- 
lation into the bringing up of youth, so, as we have seen, 
it was the endeavor of Dr. Nott, from the moment he as- 
sumed the care of youth, to make men of them, rather 
than scholars. 

His method succeeded. He had no forerunner. He 
followed no precedent. It cannot be said that he set an 
example for imitation. His method succeeded because it 
was his method. He had able, faithful instructors under 
him: I recall with admiration the names of Yates, of 
Jackson, Proudfit, Taylor, — names dear to students of 
half a century ago — each had his own sphere, and within 
it rendered service making more effective the greater in- 
fluence which followed the relations of their president 
with his class. 

At intervals since that day — how remote it seems — 
the College has been weary. It has borne heavy burdens. 
" After the tale of bricks is doubled," says the proverb, 
"Moses comes." The grievous conditions seem to have 
been endured. Our Moses is already with us; he has de- 
clared the law of his administration, and disclosed the 
"mission of the American college" — to make men fully 
equipped and competent for the affairs of life. 

Again in our alma mater, therefore, shall be proclaimed 
the " efficacy of ideas," founded in sovereignty of nature 
by Eliphalet Nott in 1804, and confirmed by his successor 
in 1894. 



ADDEESS 

BY REV. STEALY B. ROSSITER, D.D. 
Of the Class of 1865. 

subject: "the starked faculty." 

ONE HUNDKED AND SIXTY-NINE men have served 
as presidents, professors, and tutors in the faculty of 
Union College in the one hundred years of her honored 
existence. 

Some of these names have had frequent mention al- 
ready. We heard of them on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, 
morning and afternoon, and we who adore them cannot 
mention them too often. That is what we are here for, 
to repeat these names, to dwell upon them, to kiss them. 
The spirits of these men are hovering near us ; we see 
them again. It would be worth a year of our monoton- 
ous life to sit at their feet again for one dear hour. 

Seven of those who acted as presidents, twenty-four 
of the professors, and forty-six of those who served as 
tutors are marked on the College rolls with the fatal as- 
terisk. Of these we wish to speak, not with particular 
mention of them all, but with some sympathetic refer- 
ence at least ; and of some of them with a more detailed 
remark, as their lives, their work, and their contributions 
to the thought of the century demand. 

Eight of the eleven presidents and fifty-four of the en- 
tire number of the faculty have been ministers of the 



312 UNION COLLEGE. 

gospel of Jesus Christ, a sufficient answer to the surmise 
of many, that when a man believes he puts a partial 
extinguisher, at least, upon his reason. Union College 
in its large life stands for character at work in e very-day 
affairs ; for learning vitally united to practicalness ; for 
sound judgment; for interest in the things that concern 
men in the e very-day working world, and if it is true 
that what men gain in college influences, molds, shapes 
their after careers, then, by the fostering care of Union 
College, piety has been converted into practical force, 
and belief in the supernatural has greatly vivified and 
strengthened the natural in the past one hundred years. 

It is a matter of exceeding interest to note the connec- 
tion of these honored names of the faculty with the va- 
rious departments of learning, philosophy, mental and 
moral and natural, with the languages, ancient and mod- 
ern, with the art of thinking, writing, and speaking, with 
the sciences, with political economy, engineering, and, in 
fact, with those things that touch men for practical good, 
and to know that the work of the College faculty has not 
been the sowing of seeds in a snow bank, but in fruitful, 
productive soil. 

In Ezekiel's vision we see the river of life issuing from 
under the portals of the temple of God and becoming a 
mighty stream, and everything liveth whithersoever the 
river cometh. So in vision we see issuing from the doors 
of the college a stream of intelligent and devoted life, 
which takes its way out among toiling and busy masses 
of men, which broadens as it flows and which quickens 
everything it touches. It is impossible to conceive, it is 
impossible to describe, the effect of one hundred years of 
refined, intelligent life flowing out upon the world. How 
great the impact of it upon the ignorance of the sur- 
rounding mass ! How far-reaching the diffusion of its 
thought and learned contributions to the life of the peo- 
ple ! How certainly must there have been a lift, a refine- 



ADDEESS. 313 

merit, a broadening of view, an elevation of ideals for the 
whole people ! How evidently was the character and zeal 
of the faculty impressed upon the thousands of young 
men who came under their instruction, and which lifted 
them from the field, the factory, the farm, the humble 
home, into the regions of commerce, of influence, and of 
sway. 

Pleasing would it be to lift each one of these names 
from the page of the college catalogue, resurrect it for 
the hour, and hold it up for an instant's observation and 
words of true valuation. But such reference would con- 
sume more than the time allotted to me, and would 
defeat the wishes of all the dead alumni, that those most 
honored and loved in life should have the place of particu- 
lar mention on this great centennial occasion. But while 
we submit to the wishes of our honored dead, we can- 
not fail to recognize that these many inconspicuous work- 
ers, somehow inspired with the same ideals and with the 
same spirit, somehow — though unconsciously to them- 
selves — working for the same end, wrought honorably and 
faithfully in their day, and have given to Union College 
a solidarity and permanence of reputation that has not 
varied much from the standard set for it by its great and 
most renowned president, Dr. Eliphalet Nott. 

The name of Yates is an honored one in our college an- 
nals, and appears frequently in the early history of the 
college. It is selected for our first reference, because 
Andrew Yates was one of the first professors who 
filled a prominent chair, and because of the eminent 
ability of the man himself. He was a graduate of the 
class of '98, the second class that issued from the fostering 
care of the young college. He was professor of the Latin 
and Greek languages ere his college career was fully over; 
professor of moral philosophy and logic in 1814, continu- 
ing some ten years. He was a man of varied accomplish- 
ments and wrought well for the institution to which he 



314 UNION COLLEGE. 

had allied himself. His service was given to Union when 
our alma mater was very humble in her conditions, how- 
ever vigorous in her ambitions. He served in the ministry 
of the gospel after he left the professor's chair, and died 
in 1862. 

A name that arose to great eminence in the world was 
that of Thomas Church Brownell. The boy who began 
life as little Tommy Brownell ended life as the Rt. Rev. 
Thomas C. Brownell, D.D., LL. D. He graduated at Union 
in 1804. 

He remained in the college as tutor and professor of 
belles lettres and moral philosophy, — there was a con- 
nection between these things in those old days, — and in 
1809 was chosen professor of chemistry and mineralogy. 
Union at this time was feeling the stimulus of its great 
president; the class-rooms were crowded with students. 
Professor Brownell was sent to Europe to secure neces- 
sary apparatus and appliances for his department and 
remained there a year. He added to his other branches 
of instruction that of rhetoric, which he continued until 
his separation from the college in 1819. 

Meanwhile his deep and serious nature, not satisfied 
with the duties of the professorship, sought the more 
spiritual duties of the pastorate. He became a clergy- 
man of the Episcopal Church, and was ordained in Trinity 
Church in New York City in 1816. His ability, his learn- 
ing and force of character were widely recognized and he 
became Bishop of Connecticut in 1819. He had from the 
first a zeal for the kingdom, and even while a professor 
in college would perform missionary work in the country 
round about, and when he became Bishop of Connecticut 
he entered upon his new duties with great vigor and con- 
secration. He carried along with him his high regard 
for educational work, and this led him to found Wash- 
ington, now Trinity, College, Hartford, of which he was 
the first president and which he served seven years. At 



ADDKESS. 315 

the death of Bishop Chase of Illinois, he became presiding 
bishop. He contributed a number of valuable books to 
the reading world, chiefly of a religious character. His 
was a strong, full, vigorous, widely-extended life. He 
died in 1865. 

Dr. Nott had been only five years president of Union 
College, when in the fall of 1809 a little New York lad of 
thirteen years of age came knocking at Union's door. 
For four years this young and sensitive and naturally 
able mind felt the inspiration and personal magnetism 
of the great president. He caught the contagion, the 
force, the genius of Dr. Nott. If ever one mind was in- 
oculated with the genius of another, that mind was Fran- 
cis Wayland, and that inoculating personality was Dr. 
Nott. 

He graduated at seventeen years of age, and supposed, 
in his ignorance of what God had in store for him, he was 
to be a physician. But in 1816 God and he had a grapple, 
and he was converted in the good, old way of deep con- 
viction of sin and of entire surrender to God. His toy- 
ing with the profession of medicine was swept away on 
the instant, and he began to study for the ministry in 
Andover Theological Seminary. He was tutor in Union 
College in 1816 and 1817, professor of mathematics and 
natural philosophy 1821 to 1826. At the early age of 
thirty-one he became President of Brown University, 
the same age as that of Dr. Nott, when he assumed the 
presidency of Union — another strange coincidence in 
the lives of these two men. From this time on his life 
was sending waves of influence out on every side. The 
whole country felt the effect of his ideas and personality. 
He became one of the most remarkable educators and 
preachers of his day. The secret of his own strength, 
of his strong determining influence upon others, and of 
his success with young men was his view of moral re- 
sponsibility. Wherever he found himself, he felt himself 



316 UNION COLLEGE. 

related to existing things, and therefore morally responsi- 
ble for the removal of evils and the betterment of condi- 
tions. He stirred the religious world as it had not been 
stirred for a long time, by his great sermon on the rr^oral 
dignity of the missionary enterprise. His books on Moral 
Science and Intellectual Philosophy struck the same 
grand chord. His own secret life was urged on by the 
same noble sense of responsibility. His letters to the 
ministry were elevating and ennobling. Sixteen volumes 
issued from his pen, treating of themes of high and death- 
less importance. He was a man that united great mental 
power with strong common sense, and both were radiated 
with the sweet light of a rare spirituality. We of old 
Union feel as though his life was a torch, lighted from 
the great torch burning here, to shine in that distant 
State and repeat the work that was being done here. He 
was caught up to God in the year 1865. 

The name of Potter has been closely and honorably 
connected with the fortunes of Union College from its 
early life, and is found among the faculty and in the hon- 
ored list of its presidents and its board of trustees, and 
two men bearing that illustrious name take part in these 
Centennial Exercises. Perhaps no one of them will shine 
with more enduring fame than that of Alonzo Potter, grad- 
uated from Union College in 1818, a class that gave two 
bishops to the Episcopal Church; tutor from 1819 to 
1822; professor of mathematics and natural philosophy 
from 1822-26 ; professor of rhetoric and natural philos- 
ophy, 1831-45 ; honorary vice-president, 1847-65, taken 
to heavenly rewards in that same year. The boys started 
in early in the former days, for Alonzo Potter entered 
Union College at the age of fourteen, Tayler Lewis, four- 
teen, Francis Wayland at the age of thirteen, Isaac Jack- 
son at the age of eighteen, and Gillespie, of Columbia, at 
fourteen. Potter's entire life was given to the cause of 
education and religion. He filled many of the professors' 



ADDEESS. 317 

chairs in the College, and as Bishop of Pennsylvania he 
originated and promoted some of the most excellent and 
enduring Church charities, and made his life felt in strong, 
energetic ways along many lines of usefulness. 

He left the record of his thinking in a volume on po- 
litical economy, and one on the evidences of Christianity, 
and in perhaps the most noted of all, a volume of reli- 
gious philosophy. So brave and strong a life was worthy 
of an enduring monument, and that was given to the 
world in a biography written by Bishop Howe. 

The brilliant period of Union College history was from 
1826 to 1876, when in its faculty were found such men 
as Jackson, Pearson, Hickok, Lewis, Gillespie, Peissner, 
with its grand President marching on before, to be suc- 
ceeded by one as grand but differently grand, Dr. Hickok. 
Rarely has it been the privilege of any American college 
to gather into one corps such a coterie of men, original 
in thought, bold in discovery, eminent in special fields, 
setting the standard for thinkers everywhere, and con- 
tributing so much valuable, original, and shaping material 
to the reading and thinking public. 

A rare, sweet, kindly life began at Cornwall, Orange 
Co., N. Y., in the year of our Lord, 1804, when the boy 
Isaac W. Jackson was born into the world. Every one 
has his life line, and the life line of this boy was straight 
from the cradle to the grave, scarcely a sinuosity in it 
anywhere, and ever on the incline, until it was lost in 
the pure region of eternal shining and ideal form toward 
which, during his pilgrimage his eyes were ever turned. 

He graduated at Union in 1826, and entered imme- 
diately upon the duties of a tutor in the College. From 
that time until his death, which occurred in 1879, cov- 
ering a period of fifty-one years, he gave himself to 
devoted, painstaking, self-denying service of his College, 
and to rapt, intense study and enjoyment of the laws of 
God as displayed in optics. 



318 UNION COLLEGE. 

If Dr. Nott may be called the guardian genius of Union 
College, Professor Jackson may well be called one of its 
delightful permanences. 

The light of his life was as distinct from the life of other 
members of tlie faculty as Orion from the other planets 
of the night, and the odor of his life as different from 
other lives, as the scent of mignonette from that of 
roses and violets. Our memory of him is not disturbed 
by the name of any other claiming a share in our regard. 
He is, as it were, in a little room by himself, and we often 
turn aside for friendship's offering. 

He was created for mathematics. Even as a boy in old 
Albany he was noted as a superior mathematician, and in 
all his years of study he gave the best of himself to this 
favorite pursuit, and in it found for himself the most ex- 
quisite delight. Dr. Hickok in his philosophy sought to 
reach the region of pure ideas by a process of reasoning. 
Dr. Jackson was born into that region, and his study was 
always of the ideal forms unimpaired by their embodi- 
ment in physical forms. 

Pure mathematics, " so called from their crystal clari- 
tude, the science of certainty, the divine science, the 
science of the ever being," to this Dr. Jackson devoted 
his intellectual life. It was said of the star-gazers of the 
Orient that some of the light of the resplendent sky was 
reflected from their faces, and it is true of the star-gazers 
of the present day. They are not as other men, for a 
certain purity and serenity and kindliness of mind are 
theirs. 

Professor Jackson reveled in the brightness and mystery 
of the midnight sky. He knew the rapture of the intricate 
mathematical problem solved. He saw the marvelous 
laws of light in all their wonderful action and interplay, 
and it is safe to say his joy in beholding as in a glass the 
glory of the Lord was in great part the explanation of his 
contented, hospitable, kindly life. 



ADDKESS. 319 

He found his true place as professor of the exact 
sciences, or rather God put him in his true place, but he 
might have found other and honored places if he had 
sought them. The fire of the orator and the advocate 
was in his nature, and he might have risen high in the 
councils of the State. He did turn from ideal forms and 
mystic shinings as found in the heavens to the study of 
horticulture and gardening. He made the desert blossom 
like a rose. He created a little paradise out of barren- 
ness. He loved the softness and color of the rose-leaf, 
for these were to him the eternal laws of God at play. 
He endeavored to embody ideal forms and curves and 
arches in winding paths and overhanging limbs of trees, 
in vistas, in surprises to sight and sense. And thus he 
lived as between two worlds : the world of shining and 
the world of color. 

There is something finer and higher in human nature 
than scholarship, and that is a gracious selfhood. The 
kindly man that Professor Jackson was stirs our deepest 
and tenderest memories. His loves were but the symp- 
toms of a great, deep, affectionate heart. He inspired in 
his students a tender regard. 

We called him captain for some reason not fully known, 
nor do we want to know, and we remember yet the glee- 
ful way in which we used to respond to his " Fall in, 
gentlemen ; fall in," in our annual procession down Col- 
lege Hill. He must have " form," if he had to carve it 
out of the boys, though it was ragged form, I fear, as 
soon as his back was turned. He was a poet in his way. 
He was a humorist, and well do we recall the little ex- 
cursions into politics, or literature, or reform, he used to 
give us in recitation time, with his legs thrown over the 
arm of his chair, for the day was hot, and optics had no 
charm for the boys, who had watched the stars on the 
previous night. He loved dogs and horses and flowers 
and little children. His heart was kindly, and his occa- 



320 UNION COLLEGE. 

sional sharp speech was a thin disguise to his gentleness 
of feeling, which we easily saw through. "I remember 
with remarkable distinctness," says a graduate of '76, "his 
last public appearance; the quavering voice, the keen 
eyes, the long white locks of this venerable scholar, and 
the thrill that passed through my boyish heart as he ap- 
peared before us." 

A remarkable intellect was given to the world in the 
birth of Tayler Lewis, in Northumberland, Saratoga 
County, in the year 1802. Even at the early age of nine 
his mind began to open and to show its aptitudes and 
preferences, and at fourteen he knocked for admittance 
at the doors of Union College. Graduated in 1820, he 
commenced the study of law, which study of law and the 
practice of it consumed a period of thirteen years. That 
period is marked as disclosing a divergence of feeling be- 
tween his soul and his profession. It was not only dis- 
taste for law and its practice that led to his separation 
from it, but a high sense of personal righteousness. His 
conscience was a fire within him. It maintained itself 
at white heat through all his life and never would allow 
him to compromise, nor to forsake a persecuted class of 
human beings for the sake of possible and great gains; 
nor yield a single iota of what he considered to be truth, 
nor to hesitate to attack traditional interpretation of 
Scripture which his studies had found to be false, even 
though he knew that such attack would draw upon him- 
self the bitterest comment and assault. Understand the 
conscience of this man, and you understand all his life- 
career, for that was the impelling force back of it all. 

Naturally, after his divorce from the law, his activity 
turned in the direction of teaching, and for the next five 
years we see him at the head of academies at Waterford 
and Ogdensburgh. During this period he began to dis- 
cuss in the weekly papers subjects for the times. An 
inexhaustible fountain was thus opened for the reading 



ADDEESS. 321 

world, for from this time on he poured forth a constant 
stream of articles for magazines, reviews, and newspapers, 
touching themes of practical, literary, national impor- 
tance, and ending in the remarkable series of articles on 
the "Sabbath-School Lessons" published in the "Sunday- 
School Times " of 1876 and 1877. 

His professorial career began in 1838 when he became 
professor of Greek and Latin in the University of New 
York, in which he continued nine years. His Phi Beta 
address at the commencement of his alma mater, on the 
extraordinary title, " Faith the Life of Science," drew the 
attention of the pedagogic world, and he was offered pro- 
fessorships in different places, but accepted the one in 
the University of New York. 

His first book appeared while occupying this chair — 
"Plato Against the Atheists," a book for scholars and 
full of the finest disquisitions in metaphysics and subtle 
etymologies. 

The fullness and power of his great life dates from 
1849, when he accepted the professorship of Greek in 
Union College, and later the chair of Oriental languages 
and Biblical literature. Always a student, in these days 
his studiousness became intense and often the morning 
broke and found him still at his delightful task. Sleep 
he considered an intrusion, and the solitude and quiet of 
college vacations were to him periods of the greatest de- 
light. These were the days of his long walks, deep into 
linguistic lore. This was the period of omnivorous read- 
ing and intense literary activity. One book followed 
another in quick succession, and, in between, articles 
for magazines appeared in rich profusion. He startled 
the religious world by his volume, " The Six Days of 
Creation," but there was no occasion for alarm, for by 
profound criticism of the Scriptures he antedated the dis- 
coveries of geology, and found in the words of the Bible 
that which was afterwards found in the rocks of the earth. 
21 



322 UNION COLLEGE. 

He was a man of versatile accomplishments and no 
subject repelled him. He loved to solve the problems of 
higher mathematics. He ardently loved the stars and 
would talk of them as of familiar friends. He loved 
music, would think in music, and long after deafness 
had shut out the world of sound he would finger the key- 
board of a musical instrument in hopes to revive, by as- 
sociation, the delights forbidden him. The sound of the 
wind through the trees, the singing of the birds, were to 
him exquisite delight because of the sensitiveness of his 
soul to all things beautiful. Scholar, patriot, poet, theolo- 
gian too; Grod seldom makes a rarer spirit than the one that 
burned in the fragile frame of Tayler Lewis. Among his 
latest utterances was this, " I go where all is brightness." 

Perhaps the name most honored in the college faculty, 
next to the ever glorious name of Dr. Eliphalet Nott, is 
that of Laurens P. Hickok. He was born at Bethel, 
Conn., in 1798, and graduated at Union College in 1820, 
in the twenty-second year of his age. He served as 
pastor over the Congregational Church in Kent and af- 
terward in Litchfield, Conn., and in 1836 was called to 
the professorship of philosophy in Western Reserve Col- 
lege. He had now reached the position for which, by 
natural endowment, strong individual preference and 
singular aptitude, he was particularly fitted. And from 
this time on his remarkable and muscular intellect laid 
hold of, in forceful grapple, the most supreme subjects. In 
these early years he began to lay down the lines of that 
mighty system of thought which stretched from the ethi- 
cal obligation of a rose in your buttonhole to the im- 
peratives resting upon the absolute reason. The system 
grew in his mind from the years of quiet professorship in 
Western Reserve until it was finished after seventy years 
of age, in the quiet study at Amherst, whither he had 
retired, according to a settled plan, in the crowning and 
completing work of his life, " The Logic of Reason." 



ADDKESS. 323 

You have but to name the titles of his published works, 
— not to mention numerous and briefer articles con- 
tributed to the magazines and reviews of his day, most 
of which were little excursions off the main line to reach 
stations of thought and difficulty a little in the interior, 
and throw upon them the light of an explanation, — to 
see in what high and difficult altitudes he lived. 

" Rational Psychology," published in 1848, revised in 
1861, a transcendental philosophy, which assumes to see, 
by clear intuition, the necessary conditions of all thinking, 
and therefore be able to affirm, so things must be. 

"Moral Science" followed in 1853. The logical order 
would have been rational psychology, mental philosophy, 
moral philosophy; but evidently he was influenced by 
the desire to give the young men under his care as soon 
as possible a strong, determining word on morals, which 
would be for them chart and compass in the navigation 
of the wide sea of personal habits. 

" Mental Science " followed in 1854, only a year after. 
The publication of two such books in two years attested 
the vast powers of his mind, his well thought-out system, 
and his immense ability for hard work. 

In 1858 he published his " Rational Cosmology," and in 
1872 " Creator and Creation." The last in a good sense a 
revision of the former, in which he clearly shows there 
can be no proof of divine existence by the conclusions of 
the logical judgment, but only by the clear seeing of the 
reason. And thus the Creator being clearly perceived, it 
was not difficult to contemplate how the various forces of 
nature were originated, and how by their interaction a 
material universe was builded, and then how life-power 
was superinduced upon force, and the vegetable and ani- 
mal kingdoms brought into existence, and how, at last, 
by the gift of reason, the animal was lifted into the hu- 
man, and the free, moral, responsible man appeared upon 
the scene. 



324 UNION COLLEGE. 

In 1872 also appeared his " Humanity Immortal," which 
is indeed his philosophy applied to human life, free, 
moral, responsible. It is indeed the theology he taught 
in the old days at Auburn Seminary, but now perfected 
and completed and in fine accord with the line of truth 
presented in revealed Scripture. 

In 1874 appeared his last book, " The Logic of Reason." 
The title itself is as bold as anything he ever did. 

Dr. Hickok was a metaphysician, not according to Aris- 
totle's definition of metaphysics, things after physics, but 
according to the modern idea, things interior to physics. 
He was a man continually pressing back of the sense 
phenomena in search of the sub-stans underlying and 
supporting the sense phenomena. And not content with 
that, seeking to determine why things are so and not 
otherwise ; and standing, as it were, on the last conclu- 
sion of the logical understanding, leaping to the concep- 
tion of the fixed and necessary conditions in which all 
things must originate and grow. 

He was a theologian. He held the illuminating explana- 
tion of fixed decree and free agency, foreknowledge abso- 
lute and moral responsibility, as no man in this century ; 
and if he had given himself particularly to theology he 
would have filled the chair of theology, vacant now for 
many centuries, and waiting yet for an occupant. 

He was a philosopher. With him the endowment of 
the reason is the differentiation of the animal and the 
human. It involves conscious selfhood ; it has an insight 
of its own being and activity ; it is part of the absolute 
reason, and therefore knows in itself, and clearly sees, the 
methods of the divine ratiocination. He was not content 
with the position of Kepler, — " I think the thoughts of 
God after him," — but being vitally connected with the ab- 
solute reason, he thought the very thoughts of God, the 
thoughts that God must have thought, but with such 
awe-stricken reverence that he was prostrate as well as 



ADDEESS. 325 

exultant ; so daring that, if not smitten to the very core 
of his being with absolute self- surrender, he might have 
sinned the sin of the great apostate angel. 

He was a potency, an intellectual dynamo, a character 
positive as Gibraltar. He impressed the students strangely 
and mightily. He bulked large in mind and body. We 
cannot forget that large, heavy hand that used to de- 
scend upon the desk before him and shake it in all its 
structure, nor the oft-repeated words, "It must be so." 
We recall the rolling gait, almost a waddle, up the old 
college hill, and the great gold-headed cane that used to 
thump the pavement with force sufficient to penetrate it, 
which hangs now in a student's room in a home in the 
interior of the State, and that grand, kindly heart, con- 
siderate of young men's frailties, tender and helpful to- 
wards those who needed aid of any kind. His manly 
humility, his strong common-sense, his infinite self-con- 
trol, his gentleness and patience, coupled with his mighty 
intellect, exalted him to a region where but few men 
walk, and where by necessity the solitude is great. " Old 
spiritual worthiness " we used to call him, and the name, 
given in jest, is perhaps the best title that could be given 
to so grand and pure a man. 

A valuation of the force and weight, and I might add 
the dimensions, of the college faculty, which should omit 
the name of William Mitchell Gillespie, would be strangely 
wanting ; so unevenly balanced, that the men who stud- 
ied under him might well call out for explanation. He 
was a man different from all the others ; a man singular 
in habit, in reserve, in sensitiveness and in a certain soli- 
tariness that he always carried about him. He added a 
necessary something to the immortal three whose names 
weave such a halo of brilliancy around the forehead of 
alma mater. His was a fine, penetrating intellectuality. 
There was a strain of dissent about him, a sort of re- 
serve of conclusion, a hold of faith not as yet a grip, 
21* 



326 UNION COLLEGE. 

but only the faintest kind of a touch, that was piquant 
and attractive to some minds that felt coerced by the 
positiveness of Hickok and Lewis. He was born in New 
York City in 1816, and graduated from Columbia College 
in 1834. He studied in Europe for many years and re- 
turned in 1845, with a mind capable, well-stored, and 
venturesome. He was immediately called to the chair 
of civil engineering in Union College, and held his posi- 
tion until his death, which occurred January 1, 1868. 
His nature was rather cold, but not insensible to beauties 
of nature, nor unobservant of passing events, — as his book 
on " Rome as seen by a New Yorker " in 1843 and 1844 can 
testify, — nor un appreciative of the loyalty and regard of 
the students. But he was not a man to inspire ardent 
affection, and tri angulation does not conduce to sociabil- 
ity. He walked apart. He was lost in his line of study. 
His contributions to the science of engineering have been 
very valuable, and he, like his mighty confreres, was seek- 
ing the highest, as his " Philosophy of Mathematics " in- 
dicates and his higher surveying abundantly shows. 

There are many other names that shine in our sky; 
some twinkled but for a little time, and some shone on 
steadily, like the planets of the night. 

Thomas Macauley, D.D., LL.D., who served as tutor and 
as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy for 
seventeen years. 

Robert Proudfit, a sweet, beloved name to many a 
graduate, who was professor of Greek and Latin lan- 
guages for thirty-one years, and continued on in kindly 
sovereign interest over his department for eleven years 
more, making a continuous service of forty-two years. 

Thomas C. Reid, D. D. x who served in the high and 
important chairs of political economy and intellectual 
philosophy and Latin languages and literature for 
twenty-five years. 

Jonathan Pearson — Pinky Pearson, we used to call him, 



ADDEESS. 327 

and those titles are dearer to us than college degrees — that 
grave and kindly man, who led us out into the fields 
and the forests for the study of nature, and while he was 
found face-deep in the wonder of stamen, pistil, and cor- 
olla, the boys played leap-frog behind his back ; but be it 
said once for all, for all students and all the faculty, we 
loved them none the less but all the more because of our 
youthful friskiness. He served his alma mater for fifty- 
one years. 

Again the name of Yates. John Austin Yates, D.D., 
tutor and professor of Oriental literature for twenty-six 
years. 

Peissner, that heroic name, who will be abundantly 
mentioned when Union College and the army shall be 
considered. 

Benjamin Stanton, connected with the life of the insti- 
tution, in Union School and Union College for twenty- 
six years, a scholar in physical build, in mental poise, 
in wide and varied learning. 

And last of all that young and ardent spirit, Professor 
Isaiah B. Price, well fitted to succeed Professor Jack- 
son in the chair of the exact sciences, who gave such 
promise of successful career, but was cut off in the prime 
of life. 

These all died in the love of the college they once 
served, and each contributed according to his ability to 
the renown and work of alma mater. Union has become 
a name to conjure by, and it is Union, Union, Union, all 
along the lines and up the heights and into the future, and 
the motto of the college is to become the motto of the 
Universal Church, and the spirit of the college the spirit 
of the Universal Brotherhood. So mote it be. 



Dr. Nott said : Some time ago while rummaging through an old literary 
junk shop in New York, I happened to see a bundle of documents labeled 
" Union College," and upon examining its contents I found they included a 
copy of the commencement exercises at this college for 1860, and opposite a 
certain poem delivered on that occasion there was this marginal note in 
pencil: "Well written, but faint spoken." The voice that was difficult to 
hear across this church in 1860 grew in power until it was heard with ease 
and pleasure not only across many a church, but across the State and across 
the continent, in journalism and other forms of literary work. It gives me 
great pleasure to introduce to you the sole proprietor of that voice, who will 
deliver before us this evening a poem which I am confident will be well writ- 
ten and not faint spoken. [Applause.] 



CENTENNIAL POEM 

BY WILLIAM H. McELROY, LL.D. 

Of the Class of 1860. 

THE KOLL-CALL. 

As o'er his harp the minstrel bends, though only friends are 

round him, 
A certain nervous bashf ulness quite threatens to confound him — 
'T is so Leander must have felt, his courage down to zero, 
When, rising from the Hellespont, he read some rhymes to Hero. 

woman, when we love you most, then most you trouble make 

us, 
For you we yearn to do our best and then — our wits forsake us ; 
So now The Unexpressive She, more dear than any other, 

1 celebrate with trembling lips — God bless her, she 's our 

mother. 

What beacons blaze on memory's coast, as here to-night we rally, 
As ever swelling peals of joy ring through the Mohawk Valley ; 
Should we be dumb the very stones would cry aloud to shame 

us — 
List ! 't is our mother leads the hymn, the old time Oaudeamus. 



CENTENNIAL POEM. 329 

She sings it, holding high her torch, a sacred torch of learning, 
Behold it, as the century ends, well trimmed and brightly 

burning : 
Hail, blessed torch ! and may thy beams, suffused with light 

supernal, 
Shine more and more till dawns the day, the perfect, the eternal. 

We kneel to crave her sovereign grace, with love's impassioned 

hunger, 
We cry, fond gazing on her face, " You 're ever growing 

younger " — 
Then Time, the scythe-man, says to Tide, "Let 's halt — 't would 

sadly shame us 
If we refused to wait for her, who leads the Gaudeamus." 

For her we spurn the people's rule and glory in our treason — 
Up with the garnet, live the Queen, this high Centennial season ! 
Were all her sister autocrats as wise, as true, as tender, 
The woman question soon were solved — each man would quick 
surrender. 

She hears us ; and across her cheeks the blue blood swiftly 

rushes ; 
She may not take to compliments, but ah, what charming 

blushes, 
She shakes her head — she knits her brows — she makes as if to 

blame us, 
And then she strains us to her heart, and murmurs, Gaudeamus. 

And when, held in her ample lap, she bending proudly o'er us, 
We 've fond rehearsed each terrace song — nine cheers with 

every chorus, 
She cries, while o'er her radiant eyes, a shade of sadness passes, 
" Please some one call the roll for me, the roll of all my classes ; 

" Pray call it loud and call it clear, for oh your mother 's eager 
To catch the names of all her sons, from alpha to omega ; 
And if, perchance, some names are blurred, I 11 prompt you, be 

dismayed not, 
For each is graven on my heart in characters that fade not." 



330 UNION COLLEGE. 

The roll-call reaches from the class, long since caught up to 

Heaven, 
Which flourished in the antique times of 1797 ; 
On to the current, climax class, where dwell the coming sages, 
The class of 1895, proud heir of all the ages. 

With varied names the roll is writ, with dull ones and with 

bright ones, 
With names of workers and of drones, of black sheep and of 

white ones ; 
Of those who loved the classic tongues, of those who took to 

statics, 
Of those who madly doted on the higher mathematics. 

Here are the names of youths who stormed the heights of grand 

Parnassus, 
Who viewed the world, its men and things, through fancy's 

tinted glasses ; 
Of those, with pebbles in their mouths, who evermore were 

seeking 
To learn why old Demosthenes was good at public speaking. 

This name — with problems of the soul, its owner loved to 

grapple, 
The boy was made of martyr stuff — he never flunked from 

chapel ; 
That name was borne by him, alas, of college rules disdainful, 
Whose course so prematurely closed, for reasons rather painful. 

Names ! names ! the strictly orthodox and those who posed as 

skeptics 
Because — it often happens thus — they were such prime 

dyspeptics, 
And his who, scorning printed books, paid Nature his 

addresses — 
Sweet Nature! in a frock of white, blue sash and sun-kissed 

tresses. 



CENTENNIAL POEM. 331 

Our mother follows close the roll, with face of wrapt attention, 
With pensive smile and gracious speech she greets each name 

we mention, 
But gives no sign, O loving heart, who stupid or who bright 

were, 
Which were the truly proper names, who black sheep or who 

white were. 



Thus loud and clear and clinging at her knee, 
We call the long, long roll from A to Z, 
The task completed as we end the call, 
And turning tell her, " Mother, that is all." 
Her benediction falls — a sacred joy — 
On the bowed head of every Union boy : 
Those here, those vanished ; for up there, I ween, 
Her children bend to view this hallowed scene, 
And join in spirit with the pageants here 
With which we keep this glad red-letter year. 
When the last sunset fades from College Hill, 
When time is o'er and nature's heart is still, 
When earth and sky are shriveled like a scroll, 
And the great Master "ealls the final roll, 
Then shall our mother cry on bended knee, 
" Lord, here am I, and those thou gatfst to me." 



MEMORIAL DAY. 



[The exercises of this day included three distinct meetings designed to 
commemorate the achievements of Union graduates in Patriotic Service, in 
Professional Life, and in Statesmanship and Politics. The first was held on 
the College Campus at 8.30 a. m., the second in the tent at 9.30 a. m., and 
the third in the First Presbyterian Church at 8.00 p. M. The Alumni Banquet 
was held in Memorial Hall at 1.00 p. m., and the Semi-Centennial of the 
Engineering School in the tent at 4.00 p. M.] 



WEDNESDAY, JUNE TWENTY-SIXTH. 

€fjc tfoflcge in patriotic £>crtoice. 

Gen. Daniel Butteefield, LL. D., of the Class of 

1849, PKESIDING. 



FLAG-KAISING, WITH AUTLLLEEY SALUTE. 

GENERAL BUTTEEFIELD said : The ceremony of 
this morning is fitting as to locality, since here in the 
valley of the Mohawk the first flag of the Union was dis- 
played on a battle-field under fire upon the plains of Oris- 
kany, and the first great victory won under that flag 
echoed the sounds of its guns here from near-by Saratoga. 

It is proper, since, beginning with the war of 1812, when 
the notices posted in the streets and highways of Sche- 
nectady and Saratoga counties called for recruits from 
men of patriotism and valor to enlist under Jonas Hol- 
land, an officer of Union College, down through every war 
on sea or land, from the foundation of this college to date, 
its sons have rallied under that flag. 

It is fitting and proper also, since that manhood which 
has been instilled and imbibed and inheres in the very 
walls, paths, and shades of old Union has ever and will, 
may God grant ! rally to uphold, protect, and defend the 
emblem of our nationality. 



336 UNION COLLEGE. 

Let the flag be raised I 1 and let us greet it — 

It is not my province to speak of Union's sons and 
their work under that flag. That honor, duty, and plea- 
sure is left with the gentleman whom I shall have the 
honor to present to you. I may not overstep the bounds 
of my allotted duty, nor trespass upon the preparations 
of this occasion, by any eulogium or apostrophe to our 
"old glory." The Fourth of July is coming, and from 
every corner of the land will echo and reecho with pride 
and fervor such sentiments. 

As Union College has nobly carried on the work, so 
gracefully outlined by the orators of last evening, of 
practical education, of making men of thought and deci- 
sion of character, I may say that now and here and else- 
where, its sons, quick in the intuitive perception of the 
thoughts and minds of the people and of duty, see no 
longer any danger of humiliation to that emblem, save 
that it comes through the indecision or the want of reali- 
zation, by some chosen servant of the people, of what that 
flag means, outside of its glory and its history and its 
typical character, as the emblem of a nation of free citi- 
zens. It means, and it must mean, and shall mean, if the 
will of the people is obeyed, protection at any cost, in any 
clime, on any sea or shore, to the just and sacred rights 
and privileges of every American citizen ; protection to 
their persons, their property, the trade and commerce of 
the American people as individuals and as a nation. 

And it is part of the teachings of this college, by its 
traditions, its customs, and its spirit, that its sons shall 
always insist and lead in upholding that principle. 

Of what its sons have done in the century of the exis- 
tence of the college, Major Austin A. Yates, a son of 
Union, gallant, eloquent, and patriotic, whom I have the 
pleasure of introducing, will now speak to you. [Cheers.] 

1 At this instant the flag was raised on Memorial Hall as the General waved 
his hand. It was greeted with cheers and the singing of the " Star-Spangled 
Banner." 



ADDEESS 

BY MAJOR AUSTIN A. YATES. 

Of the Class of 1854. 

Backward, turn backward, old time ou your way; 
Make us all boys again, just for to-day ! 

DROP the curtain on this brilliant scene. Reverse 
the panorama and roll it back from the close to the 
center of the centnry. As it rises again, look with calm 
judgment in these days of peace on the young nation 
and the old college in the days of war ! 

The United States in the fifties. The land of the free 
and the home of the brave ! So it was in song and story 
as we sang and told it. If it was so, then have the great 
soldiers of Union living, and her greater dead, fought and 
suffered and died in vain ! 

The land of the free ? The dead beneath us have re- 
deemed the mightiest republican empire of earth from 
the curse of the Northern doughface and the shame of 
the Southern slave ! 

The land of the free, and its highest tribunal presided 
over by a Northern judge, had declared that there were 
a million and more among us who, by reason of change 
of complexion caused by exposure to God's free sun, had 
no rights which a white man was bound to respect ! 

The land of the free. In its sunniest half the whistle 
of the Yankee overseer's whip, the moan of the bereaved 
22 337 



338 UNION COLLEGE. 

mother at the foot of the auction-block, the hanging of 
the abolitionist, and the banishment of the school-marm. 

In the colder, sterner North, the doughface bending 
the supple hinges of the knee, that political thrift might 
follow the demagogue's fawning. Obedience to the in- 
famous Fugitive Slave Law driving the citizen to chas- 
ing the African to his fetters. Disobedience to that law 
stealing him over the underground railroad, our good old 
Moses, whom I remember in the early fifties as a prom- 
ising old gentleman of apparently seventy-five, being the 
first consignment to Dr. Nott, a local director. The lonely 
abolitionist receiving about as much consideration from 
Silver-gray and Woolly-head Whigs, Old Hunker and 
Barnburner Democrats, as a Prohibitionist from Chi Psi, 
Sig, or Delt — shouting, sometimes dying, for the immor- 
tal principle that is to-day the doctrine of the world all 
around from Russia to Japan. "Wherever God Almighty 
gives the form of man, whatever may be his complexion, 
he gives there the feelings and the rights of man." 

The land of the brave were we ? We were fresh in the 
recollection of the Mexican war. We had taken up a 
nasty little quarrel over a line fence on the Rio Grande, 
that a suit in trespass before a country squire should 
have settled, and with the strength of a young giant had 
pounded the life out of a little neighbor republic, held 
her up like a Western footpad, and robbed her of Cali- 
fornia and its gold. No wonder that the shameful story 
has been denounced by the most generous, the most mag- 
nanimous, the greatest soldier of his day, Ulysses Grant. 

And abroad in the harbor of the barbarian, when the 
citizen of the land of the brave and the home of the free 
was insulted, he promptly took his endangered life under 
the British flag, the flag his father had conquered. Well 
he might ! For there lay there nothing representative of 
the land of the free and the home of the brave except 
perhaps a silent man-of-war of the capacity and endur- 



ADDRESS. 339 

ance of a bull-head canal-boat, with, a few bric-a-brac 
cannon, captured in 1812, along the sides, and the Stars 
and Stripes drooping in appropriate shame from her 
stern. 

In the United States Senate a courteous and accom- 
plished scholar of Harvard, a statesman renowned on both 
continents, a United States Senator, was clubbed into 
insensibility from behind, and the assailant rewarded with 
a gold-headed cane by an admiring constituency. And 
this was the land of the brave ! 

Under the flag that waves in triumph, beside the roses 
that flame in pride, over the graves of Peissner, Strong, 
Jackson, Newbury, and McConihe, and above the little 
shelter-tents of the undiscovered dead where in pale 
sorrow no lily droops, let us thank God that there is an- 
other, a greater, because a real, land of the free and home 
of the brave over which old Union raises the flag of her 
country to-day ! 

Union in the last of the fifties. At the very summit 
of her power and prestige. The third largest graduate 
list in the land. Its roll of honor the most brilliant in 
America. They called it Botany Bay. It was a snarl 
of envy! Its majestic President cared little for the 
record of the men who came here from other colleges. 
He wanted no ready-made divines or statesmen or 
judges. The rougher and coarser the stone, the greater 
his pride in the intellectual sculpture of which he was 
a perfect master. A wondrous judge of human nature, 
with the suavity and, if need be, the sternness of Riche- 
lieu. More than any man in history I think he resembled 
the great cardinal. He preferred to carve character and 
brain with his own unaided skill, and that others had 
not succeeded never discouraged him. His strength was 
waning, but the day had not long passed when every 
State officer of New York was a Union graduate, and 
Senate and Assembly his children by a large majority. 



340 UNION COLLEGE. 

When it was his will, he controlled the State from the 
little study where so many of us had been made to swell 
with pride or to quail with terror. With governors, 
judges, senators, and men whose names were household 
words all over the world beside him, his commanding 
presence in the center of the silk-robed professors, the 
Commencement stage beggared the dignity and impor- 
tance of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

It was Union College. Union of hearts and union of 
hands that no disunion of lands for four years has ever 
severed. Many went from us to the other side. Mis- 
taken ? Yes, they should have fought where their vigor- 
ous youth was passed, inside Union. But mistaken cour- 
age is still courage. Political blunders cannot detract from 
the splendid heroism that has redeemed in the blood of 
Union's children all the condemnation that can be visited 
upon a man who fights with stubborn bravery in the 
doorway of his home. Many a Union man was a Con- 
federate soldier of untarnished name. No Union man 
was ever a traitor. And there is a mighty gulf between 
a traitor and a soldier of his State. 

So shake, Johnnie, our hands are outstretched. We 
remember you well. Fiery, hasty, so sensitive as to 
wounded honor, a very Harry Hotspur. But brave, true, 
and generous, the Southerner had no enemies at Union 
— has no enemies now. Your immortal courage was 
American courage, your heroism was the honor of Old 
Union. Here 's our hand. Don't let us be any longer 
than in the old days in finding that other hand. 

In '56 the College Senate and House of Representatives 
was in the full tide of its power and usefulness. It fol- 
lowed and often preceded the action of the National Con- 
gress. A tall, fine-looking, plainly dressed member of the 
House had attained a commanding position. He was as- 
signed to representation of one of the Southern States. 
We expected to hear of him again, and we did. Out in 



ADDBESS. 341 

Kansas he had won his way up in the terrible days of 
the border wars, in the fight for popular sovereignty. 
He was appointed attorney for the United States to for- 
ward the work of an administration that threw its whole 
influence on the side of the extension of slavery in the 
Territories. But to all who expected that Alson C. Davis 
would do a wrong to his countrymen, or be false to 
his country, he was a bitter disappointment. With all 
his strong personality he espoused the cause of human 
liberty throughout the world. He won a splendid battle 
and made the State that honored him forever free. He 
was the first of Union men in the struggle, he was a pio- 
neer of the advancing cause that has driven human slavery 
from the earth. As colonel of volunteers he fought the 
battle through. We put him on the roll of honor only a 
little while ago. As a hero in the very van of the mighty 
struggle, we lay on the grave of Colonel Davis the honors 
Old Union would gladly strew at his feet. 

The war sadly broke up Union. She was a divided 
college, but excepting those who went to their homes on 
the secession of their States, she was intensely loyal. The 
martial spirit was strong within her. Before the gun of 
Sumter had ceased, the sullen echo that was the signal of 
the death of peace, Captain Jack's son, then Inspector- 
General of the State, went promptly at the head of a 
splendid regiment that the prestige of his name quickly 
enlisted. As handsome and gallant a soldier as the war 
produced, his superb presence and ringing command at- 
tracted the attention of all as he marched to Bull Run, 
the melancholy beginning of an unprepared people. He 
fought with the determined heroism of a veteran. The 
son of Captain Jack was of fighting stock. He returned 
to Washington to die a long and lingering death of rest- 
less fever, fading away till he looked so like death in life 
that they know not when he died. The war had come 
home to Union, and they laid Colonel William A. Jackson 
22* 



342 UNION COLLEGE. 

in yonder valley, beneath the granite block that proudly 
marks the resting-place of the first of Union's immortal 
dead. 

In the old Grivens Hotel a brevet second lieutenant, 
U. S. A., in '60 sat among us in all the glory of his glit- 
tering uniform. We looked at him with hushed interest. 
The mutter of the coming storm was in the Southern 
sky, its very shadow in the air. A mighty good fellow 
who left us for the front. I never saw him again. We 
read of Captain Strong, of Major Strong, of Colonel 
Strong, as he rose with promotion for gallantry; and then 
we read of the charge of General Strong, of his heroic 
death as he fell at the foot of the flagstaff at Wagner. 
Only a lad, and the story of his bravery was sounding 
through the world ! 

But the martial spirit was alive at Union. Daily the 
College Zouaves drilled and marched. At their head a 
tall, slight, but wiry and muscular German, a soldier by 
education and experience, of ripe culture and courtly 
manners, the companion of Schurz, a professor at Union. 
A beautiful company, those College Zouaves, as they 
marched through the streets of Schenectady. An insub- 
ordinate company ; for, when the command was " guide 
right" and the girl was on the other side of the street, 
Captain Peissner got left. So did the girl, for the call 
was to other arms than hers. Very gay the College 
Zouaves in their red, white, and blue. But the sullen 
roar of battle, resounding with increasing volume, broke 
up the holiday parade of the College Zouaves. It meant 
no more picnics, no more smiling faces at the windows, 
no more balls at night. It meant to many the bivouac 
instead of the picnic, the hardtack instead of the straw- 
berry ice, the skulking sharp-shooter instead of the girl's 
smiling face, the lonely picket instead of the music and the 
dancing feet. It meant another and ghastlier red, white, 
and blue — the red blood ebbing from the heart, the 



ADDEESS. 343 

white face upturned to the sky, the blue coat spread on 
the sentry line. It meant all this and more to their com- 
mander. Three men of Union in the awful carnage of 
May 3 at Chancellorsville stood by the flag deserted by 
all but themselves. Three men of Union called on the 
flying hosts to rally. But the three men of Union stood 
alone. Two fell dead in their stubborn valor. The other, 
a son of Tayler Lewis, dropped with a shattered arm. 
Stonewall Jackson's men tenderly raised the dead and 
sent them through the lines that stood with uncovered 
heads as the last of General Peissner and Captain 
Schwerin went by. The war was home to Union then, 
writing fast on the list of her deathless names. 

For two years Union was in control of the entire opera- 
tions of the Federal army. Henry Wager Halleck was 
commanding the armies of the United States, General 
James B. Duane was engineer-in-chief of the Army of 
the Potomac. The Secretary of State was William H. 
Seward. Halleck's management was not brilliant, and 
it has been severely criticized. The great Premier has 
been the target of those who know little of the situation 
at that day. The marvelous aftersight, always infallible 
as it is cheap, perpetually commenting on the impossible 
foresight, tires the soldier. Wondrous prophets of the 
past ! Predicters of the bygone ! With superb futures 
behind you ! How little you know of that day and gen- 
eration ! Halleck was no slower than the astute Prime 
Minister, no slower than the patient President, Abraham 
Lincoln, the Americans' earthly God. "Festina lente" 
was the motto of the hour. The North was honeycombed 
with traitors — infinitely more dangerous as they were 
infinitely more contemptible than the brave rebels whom 
the soldier honors to-day. 

Do you remember that when war began in earnest, 
when at last the command thundered four thousand years 
ago in behalf of the bondsman, " Let my people go!" was 



344 UNION COLLEGE. 

at last obeyed, the streets of New York ran red with blood, 
orphans fled from the doors of the flaming asylum, and 
the African wherever found was swung to the lamp-post ? 
" Festina lente," hasten slowly. Raise high on our roll of 
honor, in the name of, in loyalty to, our grand new college, 
the names of Halleck and Seward. Send the soldier down 
to posterity with Grant and Sherman and Sheridan ; 
the incomparable statesman with Webster and Calhoun, 
Marcy and Blaine. 

Read down the roll, and remember, as I send out the 
names I find, that the flag we raise to-day floats high be- 
cause they lie low in death beneath it ! 

Let the soldier of New York first express his gratitude 
to the great quartermaster-general of the State who fed 
and clothed us, watched over us with a fatherly care af- 
terward, the most courtly, accomplished, and graceful 
President of the United States since the day of Madison, 
Chester A. Arthur. 

All honor to the professor's and bishop's son, of the 
church militant himself, shot in the breast at Newbern, 
returning to duty and to battle, marching first into Rich- 
mond, Major-General Robert B. Potter. 

Hartranft, soldier, statesman, major-general, governor. 

General Tibbitts, very near the end and home, falling 
in battle, closing in death a long and brilliant service. 

Sam Barstow, driven from the field by the hand of 
death, the only power that could take him from the front, 
to die on the hospital cot. 

Colonel John McConihe, sent to his everlasting rest in 
the trenches of Cold Harbor, found with his head upon 
his arm, as his chum had seen him when the chapel bell 
rang. 

Captain Samuel Newbury, falling amid the crashing 
trees, the roaring scream of battle, in the pathless Wilder- 
ness. 



ADDEESS. 345 

But there are others. The unsung, but never unhon- 
ored; those who wore neither chevron nor stripe, eagle 
nor star; the grandest patriots of all, the unrewarded 
privates in the ranks. 

And with unfeigned sadness, in sincerest sorrow, Union 
sends down from its great heart, within the old gray 
walls, its words of tenderest sympathy to those who 
mourn their dead in gray. In life they fought, the blue 
and the gray ; in death they are not divided. And the 
flag we raise floats lovingly, as the sun shines, over all ! 

Survivors : Union tells me to bid you welcome — come 
you in butternut or blue. Meredith of the navy, who 
stood at the mast with Farragut at Mobile ; Fred Town- 
send, Brigadier-General, U. S. A., one of the first to raise 
the cheers of Union. Douchy, captain of artillery; Major 
Frank Martindale; Major Fox, whose contribution to 
the literature of the war has raised a good soldier high 
in the republic of letters; Colonel Allan H. Jackson, the 
beloved commander of the 134th ; Colonel John Buster 
Yates, of '52, who verified the destructive name the Delts 
gave him by painting red, with burning bridges, as col- 
onel of engineers, the march from Atlanta to the sea. 

You need not answer, your names are on your country's 
muster-roll ! 

And now let the command go down the line ! To the 
highest ranking officer of us all, let the living present 
arms ! Presiding over us, the man who has ridden through 
shot and shell for every year through the mightiest strug- 
gle of the century. The commander of a brigade, a di- 
vision, and of an army corps, twice wounded and in 
twenty-eight battles, the chief of staff of the Army of the 
Potomac, the honored, trusted friend of Lincoln, Sher- 
man, Grant, Sheridan, and Meade, the generous friend 
of Union, the patron of American culture, of which he 
is a distinguished ornament — every soldier and son of 



346 UNION COLLEGE. 

Union salutes Major-General Daniel Butterfield, of the 
Armies of the United States ! [Tremendous applause 
and cheers.] 

With malice toward none, with more than charity, in 
honor to you all, now the final roll-call of the great 
reconstructed. 

Bob Toombs, of Union and of Georgia, great states- 
man and bad prophet, declared he would call the roll of 
his slaves beneath the shadow of Bunker Hill. Union 
will call a nobler roll, that of the unconquerable defeated, 
beneath the grateful shade of Memorial Hall. General 
Printop, brave always, honored in defeat. Roy Pierre 
Antoine, captain of Confederate artillery, before whose 
guns some of us groveled in the grass. Colonel Hutch- 
inson, of Morgan's cavalry, in front of whose charge we 
gamboled on the green. Colonel Picot, Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Losee, did you get the worst of it ? If you are with 
us, stay with us ; we will give you the best of it now. 

All over! No trace or track! Earthwork and em- 
bankment and fortress leveled, the rifle-pits closed by 
the hands of a single generation. All the rancor and 
bitterness of the strife vanishing and impalpable as the 
dust and ashes in the casket and the coffin of the blue 
and the gray. No discord in the song of the land of the 
free and the home of the brave, no ghastly burlesque 
now. And when the lips which have spoken to-day shall 
be voiceless in the grave, and the hand that records the 
doings of the old college Centennial day pulseless in the 
tomb, succeeding generations of Union, children in the 
class-room and on the grand old seat of stone, will hold 
in lasting remembrance the names of Union's soldier 
dead ! [Applause.] 

Geneeal Butteefield said : Weston Flint, a son of 
Old Union, of the class of 1860, will close our ceremonies 
here with four stanzas of poetry for the Old Flag. 



ADDEESS. 347 

Me. Flint : 

THE OLD FLAG. 

Fling out the Old Banner, let fold after fold 
Enshrine a new glory as each is unfurled ; 

Let it speak to our hearts, still as sweet as of old, 
The herald of freedom all over the world. 

Let it float out in triumph, let it wave overhead, 
The noble old ensign, its stripes and its stars ; 

It gave us our freedom, o'ershadows our dead, 

Gave might to our heroes, makes sacred their scars. 

Let it wave in the sunbeams, unfurl in the storm, 
Our beacon at morning, our guardian by night, 

When Peace shines in splendor athwart her bright form, 
Or War's bloody hand holds the standard of might. 

Unfurl the Old Banner, its traitors crush down. 

Let it still be the banner that covers the brave — 
The starry-gemmed banner with glory we own, 

'T is too noble a banner for tyrant or slave. 



€i)t CoHcgc in ^rofc^ional Hifc. 

W. H. Helme Mooee, of the Class of 1844, presiding. 

Mr. Moore, on taking the chair, spoke as follows : 

BRETHREN, Alumni, Ladies and Gentlemen: Some 
of the small rivers are associated with large results. 
For example: Rome on the Tiber, and London on the 
Thames. We are specially interested these days in Union 
College and Schenectady on the Mohawk. 

Having learned, from legal training and long experi- 
ence, to admire and love the just principles and clear 
equities of commercial law, it seems fitting for me to say 
a few preliminary words on the influence of Union Col- 
lege on commerce and transportation. The lessons here 
acquired and the studies here pursued which do not ap- 
pear in any curriculum have been very productive. 

Of the early navigation of the Mohawk I need cite only 
one or two sentences of romance. When the great In- 
dian chieftain, " the Eagle of the Mohawks," stood on the 
banks of this river and was about departing forever, " a 
mingled expression of grief and anger passed over his 
countenance as he watched a loaded boat in its passage 
down the river. ' The white man carries food to his wife 
and children and finds them at home. Where is the squaw 
and papoose of the red man ! ' " And again : " No light 



ADDEESS. 349 

canoe then shot down the river like a bird upon its wing. 
The laden boat of the white man alone broke its smooth 
surface." 

The students who came here from the South or from the 
sea-board and first saw the Mohawk when its waters were 
low, thought this famous river a very insignificant little 
stream. They wondered why the bridges over it were 
built so high ; but when they beheld a first-class freshet 
in midwinter, as the floods came and the river burst its 
heavy frozen covering, overflowed its banks, swept away 
barns, bridges, and dwellings, together with huge blocks 
of ice which went crunching, grinding, and breaking down 
the stream, there was an object-lesson showing the ef- 
fects of cold upon commerce and industry over a large 
part of the world. There was an exhibition of power, 
teaching in the most eloquent and impressive manner 
the perils and difficulties which commerce and enterprise 
have to contend with. 

Fifty-two or -three years ago an important legal trial 
took place in the court-house here in relation to damage 
caused by the overflow of the Mohawk. Two of the ablest 
lawyers in the State were engaged, and one Saturday af- 
ternoon many of us students listened to their summing 
up before a jury. Their arguments and eloquence, with 
some of their telling sentences, have not been forgotten. 
Two or three years afterward it was my privilege to listen 
to one of them who was employed to defend the city of 
New York in the highest court of this State, and likewise 
to Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, who made the argu- 
ment against him. Mr. Webster's argument was that the 
loss occasioned by the blowing up of buildings to stop 
the great fire of 1835 should be paid for by the city. 

A century ago canals were a commercial success in 
Europe, and were studied and projected here. What de- 
lightful sensations the first students and the professors 
also enjoyed in reading the able debates and State papers 



350 UNION COLLEGE. 

on this subject ! And what pleasing anticipations thrilled 
them as they looked upon this beautiful valley of the 
Mohawk, and thought of its becoming the great channel 
of communication between the civilization of the East 
and the wilderness of the far West ! And when these 
anticipations were realized, and the artillery guns, at right 
distances apart, firing in quick succession, carried the in- 
telligence that Buffalo was united to New York and the 
waters of the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean — what 
rejoicing! And who can now estimate how much this 
channel contributed to the commercial power and great- 
ness not only of the city of New York, but of the State 
and our country at large? 

When the water-borne vessels through this valley had 
already accomplished grand results, then came the rail- 
roads. You are aware that one of the first in this country 
was between Albany and Schenectady ; and it was appro- 
priately named the Mohawk and Hudson. The table- 
land between these two valleys was reached by inclined 
planes with their stationary engines. 

For about ten years the plane at Schenectady, within 
convenient walking-distance from the college, furnished 
its own instruction. Members of the class of '44 enjoyed 
it, and watched the construction of the new road around, 
by which it was superseded. 

Three or four railroads concentrated here; and the 
largest depot the students had ever seen or known was 
an ornament to the city. But it was a wooden struc- 
ture, and somewhat more than fifty years ago it was 
burned, and so quickly that its lessons were studied 
and have been referred to ever since. 

To return to our first thought — there is another small 
river, which empties into the Caribbean Sea, and which 
we hope will at no distant day be the location of a ship- 
canal, with which Union College will be honorably asso- 
ciated — a waterway that shall connect the Atlantic and 



ADDKESS. 351 

the Pacific, and with vast benefit and blessing add to the 
ocean power of this country and the world. 

Thus I have hastily glanced at a single feature of that 
wonderful progress to which not merely the legal, but all 
the learned professions stand so closely related. 

But not to delay you, my friends, we have as our theme 
at this time and place, Union College in Professional Life ; 
and I have great pleasure in presenting to you a gentle- 
man identified with these new ways of navigation, and 
all the interests which grow from civilization, law, and 
order, the Hon. J. Newton Fiero, of the class of '67, late 
President of the New York State Bar Association, who 
will now address you. [Applause.] 



ADDRESS 

BY J. NEWTON FIERO, 

Of the Class of 1867. 
UNION COLLEGE UPON THE BENCH AND AT THE BAE. 

'^ITT'HY may we not proceed further, and affirm confi- 
* ▼ dently that the profession of the law is to be pre- 
ferred before all other human professions and sciences, as 
being most noble for the matter and subject thereof, most 
necessary for the common and continued use thereof, and 
most meritorious for the good effects it doth produce in 
the commonwealth 1 " 

How far Union College has during the first half of the 
century of her existence given a practical answer to this 
question, propounded nearly four hundred years ago by 
Sir John Davy in the preface to his reports, is to be de- 
termined by the story of her sons who have devoted their 
lives to the practice of the law or been called to administer 
it from the bench. That record we shall give in brief and 
incomplete manner unworthy of the theme. 

A consideration presents itself at the outset which re- 
quires a moment's attention. It will be a ground for just 
criticism as regards the contents of this paper that undue 
space is devoted to those graduates who have attained 
distinction by virtue of holding official position, and that 
very many illustrious men have been passed by who were 



ADDKESS. 353 

ornaments to the bar, in some instances their very names 
being ignored, in others receiving but scanty mention. 

This may arise because the individual opinion of the 
writer as to the place any alumnus has taken in the minds 
of the public may not be that which by common consent 
is accorded him. But the real and only justifiable excuse 
for thus passing hastily over the names of many who are 
entitled to be recalled upon an occasion like this lies in 
the fact that as to lawyers who have never occupied offi- 
cial position the records and even traditions are so scanty 
as to render it impossible to do justice to their merits or 
fairly to recall the story of their lives and influence. 
When to this is added the brief space of time allotted for 
the preparation of this paper and the necessity for inquiry 
and research in many directions, it will be fully appre- 
ciated that it is not only difficult, but almost impossible 
to render the proper meed of praise to all the illustrious 
names to be found upon the roll of graduates of Union at 
the bar and on the bench. 

Still another embarrassment exists in the fact that very 
many of her illustrious sons are so well known in our 
own day and in the present generation, that to recall 
their names would seem to be a work of supererogation, 
aside from the difficulty of doing justice to those who are 
still engaged in the active duties of their profession. It 
has therefore seemed better, with the single exception of 
one who has passed away, to confine this paper to a record 
of a few of the leading lawyers and judges who graduated 
during the first half of that century the completion of 
which we to-day commemorate. 

In the first class graduated from Union we find the 
names of three clergymen, but not a single lawyer. A 
marked improvement is found in 1798, which graduated 
two lawyers ; and in 1799 we not only find the bar fully 
represented, but the bench recognized by the conferring 
of an honorary degree upon Egbert Benson, then justice 
23 



354 UNION COLLEGE. 

of the Supreme Court, aud later judge of the United 
States Circuit Court. 

In that year graduated John Savage, who survived 
until 1863, receiving from the college the degree of LL. D. 
in 1829. He was appointed chief justice of the Supreme 
Court of the State, January 29, 1823 ; and until 1836 pre- 
sided over that court, having as associates such eminent 
jurists as Samuel Nelson, Green C. Bronson, and William 
L. Marcy. His opinions are to be found in the volumes 
of Cowen and Wendell, and do credit to his early training. 

Samuel A. Foote was a member of the class of 1811, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1813. After a long and distin- 
guished service at the bar, he became a member of the 
Court of Appeals in 1851. It was said by Judge Folger, 
on behalf of the Court of Appeals, at the time of his death 
in 1878, at the age of eighty-eight : " He was the living 
link which held in one three successive judicial organiza- 
tions. He began the practice of the law before any one 
now sitting on this bench was born, and he continued it 
in full vigor of mind and body until the day of his death." 

In 1818, with Bishops Alonzo Potter and George W. 
Doane, was graduated Sidney Breese. Taking up his 
residence in Illinois immediately after graduating, he was 
almost constantly in official position in that State, dis- 
charging public trusts up to the time of his death in 1878, 
— successively district attorney, reporter of the Supreme 
Court, senator of the United States, and chief judge of 
the Supreme Court of Illinois. He is regarded as one 
of the ablest jurists who has occupied a place upon the 
bench of that State, possessing a character of great intel- 
lectual vigor and absolute independence. 

The name of William H. Seward, of 1820, is so thor- 
oughly associated in the mind of every graduate of Union 
with his record as a statesman, that it seems like trench- 
ing upon the ground of others to mention his name in 
connection with his career at the bar; yet it would be a 



ADDEESS. 355 

manifest injustice to pass by the record of Mr. Seward 
as a lawyer. That he was eminently successful at the bar 
as a very young man is a matter which has a basis much 
more substantial than mere tradition, and none can listen 
without pleasure to the well-authenticated anecdote il- 
lustrating his confidence and courage upon his first argu- 
ment before Chancellor Walworth in the Court of Chan- 
cery. The story is told by one of his friends and admirers 
as follows : 

Seward's manner when he began his argument was 
that of exceeding diffidence. To add to his embarrass- 
ment, the chancellor began to ply him with questions and 
suggestions. At length, when the questions became too 
frequent, the young lawyer paused in his argument and 
took his seat. 

"Why do you not proceed with your argument?" was 
asked in some surprise. 

" I beg leave to say," said Seward, " if your honor will 
permit, that until now I never understood the arguments 
in the Court of Chancery were conducted in the form 
of dialogue with the court, and not understanding that 
practice, I am unwilling to proceed." 

" Proceed, sir, proceed with your argument," said the 
chancellor ; " you shall continue it uninterrupted." And 
no further interruption occurred. 

After retiring from the State Senate, Seward's legal 
career covered a period of little over four years ; but 
during that time the celebrated cases of The People v. 
Freeman and The People v. Wyatt, in both of which he 
appeared for the prisoner, gave him a wide-spread and 
solid reputation as a lawyer, he having in the latter case 
interposed, for perhaps the first time, the defense of moral 
insanity, which has since become so popular, insisting 
that "persons who are the subjects of natural or con- 
genital derangement are not morally accountable, because, 
though they may know an act to be wrong, they cannot 



356 UNION COLLEGE. 

refrain from doing it, being irresistibly compelled to its 
commission." 

Mr. Seward's argument to the jury in that case, although 
unsuccessful, is said by one who was present to have ri- 
valed Erskine's famous defense of Hadfield under a like 
plea. 

Hiram Gray was a member of the class of 1821, and 
survived until a very recent date, having been a member 
of the Commission of Appeals appointed under the pro- 
visions of the Constitution of 1869, which constituted as 
such commission four judges of the Court of Appeals 
then in office, for the purpose of completing the calendar 
of that court, and authorized the governor to appoint a 
fifth commissioner. 

In the same year was graduated Philo T. Ruggles, who 
at his death had the distinction of being the oldest living 
alumnus of the college. Although not distinguished as 
an advocate, and holding no judicial position, he exer- 
cised judicial functions during a period extending over 
very many years, and relating to matters of the utmost 
importance, since by virtue of his judicial temperament, 
thorough knowledge of the law, and inflexible integrity, 
he was selected alike by courts and litigants as referee 
to determine controversies involving most important 
quesions of law and fact, as well as very large, varied, 
and important financial interests. 

John A. Lott was of 1823. After holding the office of 
justice of the Supreme Court, he became a judge of the 
Court of Appeals in 1869 ; and upon the organization of 
the Commission of Appeals was selected as chief com- 
missioner, and continued to act in that capacity during 
the continuance of the commission and until the com- 
pletion of the work assigned it under the Constitution. 

In 1824 graduated Ira Harris, who not only represented 
the State with honor in the United States Senate, but 



ADDKESS. 357 

discharged the duties of justice of the Supreme Court 
under the new Constitution in a singularly felicitous man- 
ner, rounding out a successful and honorable career as 
one of the founders of and lecturers in the Albany Law 
School, and acting for a brief period as the president of 
Union College ; a man of thoroughly solid attainments 
who left the impress of his personality upon those with 
whom he associated at the bar, on the bench, and in the 
lecture-room, and whose name is one of those the sons 
of Union delight to honor. His long and honorable 
career closed in 1875. 

Amasa J. Parker, of 1825, who passed away May, 1890, 
ripe in years and honors, in the eighty-third year of his 
age, filled a large place in the history of the bar and of 
the bench of the State. Although for a considerable 
period — from 1844 to 1855 — he was a justice of the Su- 
preme Court, he is best known and will be remembered 
most distinctively as a lawyer. The manner of his gra- 
duation was unique. 

He was only sixteen years of age when he took charge, 
as principal, of a classical school at Hudson, which he 
conducted with success. Nearly two years after he had 
assumed charge of this academy, he learned that the 
trustees of a rival educational institution at Kinder- 
hook boasted of an advantage enjoyed over the Hudson 
Academy, in that their principal was a college graduate. 
Mr. Parker waited until the close of the school year at 
Hudson, then went to Schenectady. There he was pre- 
sented to Dr. Nott and Vice-President Potter, afterward 
Bishop of Pennsylvania, He explained his visit, and 
said he was there to pass his four years' examination. 
The faculty approved of the novel application, and the 
full examination for the four years' course was success- 
fully passed during the week, and he took his diploma 
with the class of 1825, and, returning to Hudson, sent word 

23* 



358 UNION COLLEGE. 

to his friends at Kinderhook that their boasted advantage 
was no longer good. Subsequently a trustee of Union, 
he was always loyal to its interests. 

In 1851, with Judge Ira Harris, of Union, 1824, and 
Amos Dean, Union, 1826, he engaged in founding the 
Albany Law School, and continued as one of its lecturers 
for a period of nearly twenty years, preparing in the 
meantime six volumes of reports of criminal cases and 
assisting in the editing of the fifth edition of the Revised 
Statutes of the State. He was one of the earliest advo- 
cates of law reform. While visiting Europe in 1853, when 
such reforms were under consideration in England, he 
addressed the Law Reform Club at its annual meeting, 
on the invitation of Lord Brougham, explaining the re- 
sults of his experience on the bench, as to the changes 
that had been made in this State, more particularly as to 
the administration of law and equity in the same court. 

From 1855 up to the time of his death, Judge Parker 
was actively engaged in the practice of his profession, and 
recognized as one of the leaders of the bar of the State, 
being engaged in many of the most important cases in 
the State and Federal courts. 

Of Amos Dean, 1826, we have spoken in connection 
with the founding of the Albany Law School in collabo- 
ration with two other eminent graduates of Union. This 
school in 1873 became a part of Union University, and it 
is very largely to the impetus given under the manage- 
ment of Amos Dean that it early attained a high reputa- 
tion as a school of law. 

William F. Allen, of 1826, was for sixteen years a jus- 
tice of the Supreme Court, for two terms comptroller of 
the State, and for eight years a judge of the Court of 
Appeals. It was well said of him : " He filled a large space 
in the annals of the State." The qualities which charac- 
terized him were said by those who knew him most 
intimately to have been " a firm, intelligent, and compre- 



ADDEESS. 359 

hensive grasp of the most difficult questions in the law, 
and the wisdom which he brought to bear upon the solu- 
tion of legal controversies," as well as the " facility with 
which he could comprehend and formulate the principles 
applicable to the most difficult and complicated cases, 
and, above all, his independence of judicial judgment and 
fearlessness with which he adhered to and enforced his 
conviction of the right." It was a well-deserved tribute 
that "through an extended life he was an honor to his 
race, to his profession of the law, and to his judicial office." 

Rufus W. Peckham, for many years justice of the 
Supreme Court in the Third Judicial Department, and at 
the time of his decease in 1873 a member of the Court of 
Appeals, was of 1827. No more fitting tribute can be 
paid his memory than that of the memorial handed down 
at the opening of the court at its first meeting after the 
disaster by which he came to his death. Chief Judge 
Church, on behalf of himself and his associates, said: 
" Judge Peckham has for many years been identified with 
the judiciary of the State. His judicial career began as 
a judge of the Supreme Court, to which he was elected 
in the district where he had spent the whole of his pro- 
fessional life; and the qualities which distinguished him 
as a judge in that position led to his nomination and 
election as an associate judge of this court on its organi- 
zation. His firmness, his learning, and his fearlessness 
and independence in maintaining his convictions, guided 
always by a strong sense of justice, which was a distin- 
guishing feature of his character, won the confidence and 
respect of the bar and bench, and of all with whom he 
was associated." 

Ward Hunt, of 1828, attained to the high dignity and 
responsibility of associate justice of the United States 
Supreme Court after having served as associate and chief 
judge of the Court of Appeals and Commissioner of Ap- 
peals. 



360 UNION COLLEGE. 

George F. Comstock, of 1834, came to the bar in 1837, 
and entered upon .the practice of his profession at Syra- 
cuse. In 1847 he became a reporter of the Court of Ap- 
peals for a term of three years, and in 1856 a judge of 
the Court of Appeals to fill vacancy ; was chief judge of 
the court, 1860 to 1862. "His opinions are all marked 
with the stamp of eminent ability, but his reputation as 
a judge rests chiefly upon his opinions in a few cases' 
which involved the determination of great questions and 
the evolution and application of principles of permanent 
value. These opinions he elaborated with the greatest 
care, and exhibited great logical power, the most discrimi- 
nating analysis, and profound learning." He practised his 
profession with marked success after his retirement from 
the bench, and up to his death in 1892. 

John K. Porter, distinguished as an advocate, and bear- 
ing a high reputation as a judge of the court of last 
resort, was of 1837. For many years a member of the 
leading law firm in the city of Albany, he conducted a 
very large business as counsel in the higher courts, and 
achieved a reputation in the argument of causes second 
to that of no lawyer in the State. For a term of years, 
beginning with 1865, he was a member of the Court of 
Appeals; and upon his retirement became the head of one 
of the leading firms in the city of New York. He was 
best known to the public by reason of his participation 
in the action of Tilton against Beecher, in which he won 
many professional laurels, and to the country at large 
from having been counsel upon the trial of the assassin 
G-uiteau for the murder of President Garfield. The un- 
remitting labors of this trial, extending over weeks and 
months, undermined his constitution, and ruined health 
necessitated his retirement from the bar. He was bril- 
liant, persuasive, and logical as a lawyer ; and his opinions 
are clear, pointed, and concise, indicating a vigorous in- 
tellect trained to the duties of the bar and the bench. 



ADDKESS. 361 

His standing with his brethren at the bar is, perhaps, 
best illustrated by the fact that he was chosen as the first 
president of the New York State Bar Association upon 
its organization in 1876, and elected for a second term 
the following year. 

Those in attendance upon these Centennial exercises 
have listened to a commemorative address from George F. 
Danforth, of 1840. To those who have had that pleasure 
it is unnecessary to recall either his vigorous personality 
or his ability as an orator. To the wider circle of gradu- 
ates of the college he is known as a loyal son of Union, 
for whom a successful career at the bar was followed by 
a term of fourteen years of service in the Court of Ap- 
peals, from which he retired, alike to the regret of the 
bar and bench, only by reason of the constitutional limi- 
tation upon the term of his office. He was selected by a 
unanimous vote of his associates to preside over the de- 
liberations of the commission appointed in 1890 to revise 
the judiciary article of the Constitution, and did much 
toward shaping the report which was ultimately substan- 
tially adopted by the recent Constitutional Convention. 

Hamilton Harris, of 1841, is, perhaps, among all the 
names mentioned, more especially a representative of the 
bar as apart from the bench. Nearly all the sons of 
Union who have been distinguished as lawyers have like- 
wise achieved success as judges. But aside from the office 
of State Senator, Mr. Harris has held no official posi- 
tion. For very many years he has been closely identified 
with the history of the bar of the State, and his industry, 
ability, and learning have been availed of by hundreds 
of suitors in trial courts and courts of last resort, and no 
lawyer in the State has a more substantial clientage or 
is better worthy of its confidence. The easy and deliberate 
manner of Mr. Harris in the trial courts recalls the anec- 
dotes related of Sir James Scarlett, who was said, during 
the progress of a trial, to regard the proceedings with 



362 UNION COLLEGE. 

apparent indifference, but, as a fact, giving the closest 
attention to the salient features, with regard to which 
his adversary found him a most thoroughly equipped 
and dangerous adversary. Nothing of fact or law es- 
capes his notice, and in concise and convincing terms, 
with no attempt at oratory, every point is presented in 
the clearest and most convincing terms to court and jury. 
No one has greater pride in his profession or takes 
greater interest in affairs appertaining to the advance- 
ment of the educational interests of the State. Mr. Har- 
ris is not a stranger to the delights of literature, and finds 
relief from most painstaking and successful labor at the 
bar among the shelves of a carefully selected library. 

Orsamus Cole, of the class of 1843, was for many years 
chief justice of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, and as 
such attained a high reputation as a jurist. 

Robert Earl, of 1845, retired from a seat upon the bench 
of the Court of Appeals at the close of 1894, after a con- 
tinuous judicial service in that court of nearly twenty- 
five years, having served a longer period in that tribunal 
than any other judge sitting upon that bench since the 
organization of the court. Judge Earl was admitted to 
practice in 1848, and remained at the bar until 1869, serv- 
ing during that period as county judge of his county. 
He first took his seat upon the bench of the Court of 
Appeals in 1870. He later became a member of the Com- 
mission of Appeals, and upon the dissolution of that 
body was again elected a member of the court. He acted 
as chief judge in 1870 and 1892. His opinions appear in 
the New York reports, beginning with volume 41 and 
ending with volume 144, and number over 1400. If pub- 
lished by themselves, it is said they would make about 
eighteen volumes of the Court of Appeals reports. He 
has thus impressed himself in a most striking manner 
upon the development of the law in this State for the 



ADDEESS. 363 

past quarter of a century, since their quality fully equals 
the quantity. 

Upon his retirement from the court the unusual cour- 
tesy was extended him of the expression of the views of 
the judges in an official minute, and their appreciation 
and that of the bar cannot better be expressed than by an 
extract from that proceeding. They say: " Especially we 
shall miss him at the consultation-table, where the capa- 
city to see swiftly, grasp accurately, and hold firmly the 
rapid succession of facts and doctrines involved in the 
cases as they pass in review, finds its most useful field of 
effort. He held his place there, a sentinel never asleep, 
a patrol always on the alert, a guard not to be eluded ; 
and yet none of us, even when stopped or challenged, 
ever had reason to regret the manner of the vigilance ; 
for, however earnest the warning or relentless the criti- 
cism, there was always kindness and courtesy behind it, 
and a zeal which fully subordinated pride of opinion to 
the sound and stable reputation of the court." 

John T. Hoffman, of 1846, is best known in other fields 
than the law. He was, nevertheless, a man of standing 
at the bar ; and as recorder of the city of New York ob- 
tained a high reputation for a fearless and independent 
discharge of his judicial duties. 

Eighteen hundred and forty-six graduated Silas W. 
Sanderson, for some time chief justice of the Supreme 
Court of California, and who for many years occupied a 
commanding position at the bar of that State ; and Wil- 
liam H. King, a lawyer of high standing and reputation 
in his adopted city of Chicago, where, for a considerable 
period of time, he was president of the association of the 
bar of that city. 

And here we have arrived at the close of the first half- 
century, and, with a single exception, leave the record 
from 1847 to be made up at a later day ; not but that a 



S 



364 UNION COLLEGE. 

number of the sons of Union have distinguished them- 
selves at the bar and served faithfully and well upon the 
bench, but for the reason that we now come to deal more 
fully with our contemporaries, many of whom have estab- 
lished their reputation, some of whom have it yet to 
make, and further suggestion might seem invidious. 

The exception noted is that of Samuel Hand, of 1851, 
who passed away, nearly a decade since, at the early age 
of fifty-three. From 1859, when Mr. Hand located at 
Albany, his reputation as a lawyer was at once established 
throughout the State. As a member of the famous firm 
of Cagger, Porter & Hand, he developed his capacity for 
work, his methods of thorough preparation, and his abil- 
ity to grasp and expound intricate questions of law. 

Up to the time of his death, except the short interval 
during which he was a judge of the Court of Appeals in 
1878, he was the leading counsel at the bar of that court, 
a position for which he was admirably fitted not only by 
his knowledge of the law, but by reason of his ability to 
grasp complicated facts and to apply legal principles 
thereto. During these years he served a short period as 
State reporter, publishing six volumes of the New York 
reports. Chief Judge Ruger said of him, with the approval 
of the members of the Court of Appeals : " His most en- 
during claim to distinction must, we think, rest mainly 
upon the reputation made by him as an advocate at the 
bar of this court, where, for nearly a quarter of a century, 
he occupied a commanding position and was more exten- 
sively employed in the argument of cases than any other 
individual practitioner. The confidence reposed by his 
clients in his ability was fully justified by the great power 
and varied resources which he brought to bear in the dis- 
charge of his professional engagements, and the success 
which usually attended his labors. His forensic efforts 
were always distinguished by thoroughness of prepara- 
tion, perfect and expert knowledge of the case in hand, 



ADDEESS. 365 

a clear and comprehensive appreciation of the legal ques- 
tions involved, and of the reason and philosophy of the 
rules bearing upon them, a logical and felicitous method 
of arrangement and presentation which enabled him to 
exhibit in the strongest light the favorable features of 
his theme, and to anticipate and counteract those of his 
adversary." 

He was the second president of the New York State 
Bar Association, serving two terms in that capacity. 

The roll of lawyers and jurists who graduated from 
Union during the first half -century of her existence num- 
bers also Alfred Conkling, of 1810, United States minister 
to Mexico and district judge of the Northern District of 
New York ; John W. Edmonds, of 1816, circuit judge of 
the First Circuit in 1845, and justice of the Supreme Court 
in 1847 ; Josiah Sutherland, of 1824, justice of the Su- 
preme Court in 1857; Enoch H. Rosekrans, of 1826, justice 
of the Supreme Court, 1855 ; and William W. Campbell, 
of 1827, judge of the Superior Court and justice of the 
Supreme Court. 

Eighteen hundred and twenty-six graduated Alexander 
W. Bradford, commissioner to revise the laws, and surro- 
gate of the county of New York ; Hamilton W. Robinson, 
judge of the New York Common Pleas ; and Gilbert M. 
Speir, judge of the Superior Court. 

Eighteen hundred and thirty-three gave to the Supreme 
Court bench Joseph Mullin and Daniel Pratt; 1835, James 
C. Smith, for a long term presiding justice in the General 
Term of the Supreme Court ; 1836, Peter S. Danforth and 
William Fullerton of the Supreme Court bench ; 1839, 
John N. Pettit, circuit judge in Indiana, and Hooper C. 
Van Vorst of the Common Pleas and Superior Court; 
1841, Joseph Potter of the Supreme Court; and 1842, 
Joseph W. Jackson, justice of the same court. 

Union has, therefore, in addition to a brilliant array of 
lawyers whose name is legion, and whose services at the 



366 UNION COLLEGE. 

bar have been rendered with ability, fidelity, and integrity 
second to none, seen of her graduates up to 1846, upon 
the bench, a chief justice of the Supreme Court under 
the Constitution previous to 1846, three chief judges of 
the Court of Appeals, eight associate judges of that court, 
four of the five Commissioners of Appeals ; and the list 
is not complete without the enumeration of numerous 
judges and justices of superior courts, and three chief 
justices of the highest courts of other States. 

Thus has the -college discharged its functions as an 
educator of the men who are described by the prince of 
Roman orators as " learned in the laws and that general 
usage which private persons observe in their intercourse 
in the community, who can give an answer on any point, 
can plead and take precautions for their client," and from 
among whom are selected the magistrates of the com- 
monwealth, whose duties are set forth in the quaint lan- 
guage of Bishop Home to be, " when he goeth up to the 
Judgment Seat to put on righteousness as a beautiful 
robe, and to render his tribunal a fit emblem of that 
Eternal Throne of which justice and judgment are the 
habitation." 

No one can be better aware than the writer of this 
paper that justice has not been done to the alumni of 
Union who have pleaded at the bar or administered 
justice from the bench. Lack of time, opportunity, and 
sources of information can alone excuse the shortcomings 
of which he pleads guilty. He throws himself upon the 
mercy of the court, craving so light a sentence by way 
of just criticism as may be compatible with the character 
of the offense. To have selected from the large number 
of names of those who have graced the bench, those who 
might have been deemed most worthy of further men- 
tion, would have been a work of difficulty which could 
have been performed, with justice to those interested, by 
no expenditure of time or labor. To have selected a few 



ADDEESS. 367 

for fuller mention would have appeared invidious. To 
have given the record of all might have been tedious. It 
has therefore been deemed best to leave those names, as 
well as those of the distinguished members of the bar 
who have made a reputation for themselves and been an 
honor to the college, to other annals, in which may be 
more fully recorded their ability, industry, and integrity. 



ADDRESS 

BY REV. TEUNIS S. HAMLIN, D. D., 

Of the Class of 1867. 

UNION COLLEGE IN THE MINISTRY. 

MR. CHAIRMAN and Ladies and Gentlemen: It is one 
of the infelicities, and perhaps the chief infelicity, 
of coming so near the close of this long series of addresses, 
that I must inevitably repeat many of the names which 
you have already heard, and to the bearers of which you 
have already paid the tribute of your applause. But 
over against that infelicity stands the joyful fact, which 
will be a thorn in the side of my dear friend Fiero, that 
no name that he mentioned has been pronounced in my 
hearing before, or had occasion to be pronounced, except 
the very distinguished name of William Henry Seward. 
All the earliest colleges of this country were created 
for the express purpose of providing for the churches an 
educated ministry. In most cases the money that started 
them came from meager clerical salaries, and the nuclei 
of their libraries were gathered from the shelves of the 
neighboring pastors. They were established to teach 
the Bible and the Christian religion quite as much as the 
classics, scientific studies being comparatively unknown. 
All their presidents and most of their professors were 
clergymen. And they were nearly all denominational. 

368 



ADDEESS. 369 

In this respect our college was a distinct advance upon 
any predecessor. Its name records the historic fact that 
several religious denominations cooperated in its organi- 
zation ; and in its administration and its students it has 
always been true to that name. This means, however, 
not that it has been less religious, but rather more so. 
Nor has it been less clerical. Of 104 trustees, to 1884, 
not including ex-officio trustees, 28 were clergymen. 
Of its 11 presidents and acting presidents to date, 8 
have been clergymen, and all full presidents have been 
such except Webster. Of 130 professors and tutors, to 
1884, 55 were ministers of the gospel. All four men in 
the first class, 1797, entered the ministry. Of some 7500 
alumni, 1312 have been, or are, clergymen in all the lead- 
ing denominations, and 300 of them have received the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity. 

I have been honored with an invitation to speak to 
you about these 1300 men. Don't get frightened — I am 
not going to do it. [Laughter.] It is a stupendous task. 
I cannot even call the roll of their names in the time 
allotted me. I could not mention even the barest facts 
about those of them that have reached national or inter- 
national distinction. I cannot enumerate the academical 
and ecclesiastical and civil honors that they have won 
and worn. Nor would either, or all, of these things, if 
done, give you any conception of " Union College in the 
Ministry." A single sentence can state the fact ; but to 
know what it means we must trace the influence of these 
men in the many thousands of pupils that they have 
taught; the libraries of books that they have written; 
the innumerable men and women and children that they 
have influenced for good in the pulpit and in pastoral 
work; the institutions of learning that they have founded, 
and the centers of light that they have created in our own 
land and in foreign lands ; the philanthropies that they 
have originated or stimulated; the reforms that they 
24 



370 UNION COLLEGE. 

have promoted ; the patriotism and all civic virtues that 
they have cultivated and practised. Nor would these 
things be adequately represented by mentioning a few 
of the most brilliant names and their most splendid 
achievements. Most of these 1800 have lived and worked 
unheralded; in towns and villages and rural neighbor- 
hoods ; on narrow incomes and amid many circumscrib- 
ing conditions ; in short, after that inconspicuous fashion 
that marks nine tenths of the productive and valuable 
labor of the world. Still all their years and powers have 
been spent in the service of their fellow-men ; in bringing 
comfort to the sick and dying, hope to the discouraged, 
salvation to the lost. What humblest of all their parishes 
could be found where they have not awakened ambition 
in some young men or women who have become in their 
turn scholars, teachers, orators, statesmen — the leaders 
that have molded cities, communities, civilizations? 
When we remember that most of the masters in business, 
in the professions, and in official life, have come from 
the farm or the village ; when we consider the m eager- 
ness of their childhood, its few glimpses of the world or 
outlooks on life ; when we think that the minister, per- 
haps, alone of all their acquaintances could talk with 
them of books, education, history, the world's insatiable 
demand for men of power and of unselfish ambition ; 
when we see the purpose thus aroused to be something 
more and better than an ignorant drudge : then we get 
a suggestion, at least, of the far-reaching influence of the 
humblest country pastor. Gather, in any of our great 
centers of power, the men that control business, make 
laws, shape thought, administer affairs, and ask them 
where their success had its initiative, and how many of 
them will say, " In the inspiring counsels and unfailing 
encouragement of my minister when I was a lad at home" ! 
Moreover, it is a great thing to be able to say of any 
1300 men that their example, as well as their influence, 



ADDEESS. 371 

has been uniformly on the right side. There may be ex- 
ceptions to this among our clerical alumni ; but if so, they 
are unknown to me. Not all these 1300 have been great 
scholars or eloquent preachers; many of their names 
have no place in biographical encyclopedias, and have 
probably seldom been mentioned in the newspapers. But 
all of them have been temperate, pure, honest, truthful ; 
good neighbors and good citizens ; safely trusted by their 
fellow-men. And this is a tribute not only to their moral 
character, but to their general efficiency. It has always 
been claimed for Union College that it turns out practical 
men ; men of affairs ; in the best sense, men of the world. 
This claim is amply sustained wherever its alumni are 
found, and nowhere more notably than in the ministry, 
usually regarded as the least practical of callings. If the 
superstition still lingers in any mind that clergymen are 
mere doctrinaires ; at home only in the study ; incompe- 
tent to care for themselves ; incapable of understanding 
the complicated questions of business and politics ; very 
good to give abstract advice, but quite useless for put- 
ting it into practice ; without executive or administrative 
talent or aptitude : I know of no better antidote for that 
superstition than a study of the clerical alumni of this 
college. If any one thinks of the ministry as primarily 
a talking, not an acting profession, let him note not 
only what these men have said, as it is cherished in the 
memory of thousands, and preserved in pamphlets, re- 
views, and books, but what have they done, as it is seen 
in the solid architecture of a multitude of churches and 
schools and colleges ; in millions of dollars of permanent 
endowments; in many scores of libraries; in the ad- 
ministration of countless philanthropies ; wherever, in- 
deed, an educated intellect and a sympathetic heart can 
find opportunity to benefit mankind. 

If, therefore, we select a few from this noble list, and 
sketch briefly their most notable achievements, it will 



372 UNION COLLEGE. 

not be due to any lack of appreciation of all the rest, but 
first, to our rigid limits of time and space ; and second, 
to the difficulty, indeed the impossibility, of getting ac- 
curate information. If, as a sample, I had here and should 
read to you a letter I received from that incorrigible man 
John D. Nott about himself, you would see what troubles 
I have been through, and I am sure I should have your 
deep sympathy. It is this selection which is the most 
embarrassing part of our task. Every hearer will note 
what seem to him inexcusable omissions and dispropor- 
tions. To such criticisms there is no answer. One can 
only aver that he has used his best judgment, without 
prejudice or partiality, and tried to show fairly the 
work of Union College in the ministry. 

Some classification will be convenient; and we will 
begin with those ^clerical alumni who have devoted their 
lives principally to teaching. And here I regret to say that 
I shall have to refer again to some of those names already 
mentioned by my friend Dr. Rossiter in his superb ad- 
dress, to which you listened with such rapt attention last 
night. 

Francis Wayland, of the class of 1813, was born in 
New York city, March 11, 1796, and died in Providence, 
R. I., September 30, 1865. His father was a clergyman ; 
his mother a woman of " superior mind, accurate and dis- 
criminating judgment, and a strong and expansive thirst 
for knowledge." He pursued his preparatory studies at 
the Dutchess County Academy at Poughkeepsie, and en- 
tered Union in the sophomore class. He took a three 
years' course in medicine; but when ready to practise, 
he became a Christian, joined the Baptist Church, and 
decided to enter the ministry. He studied two years 
at Andover Theological Seminary, and for four years 
(1817-21) was a tutor here (at Union College), a period 
which he pronounced " of great service to him intellec- 
tually." His only pastorate followed, five years in the First 



ADDRESS. 373 

Baptist Church of Boston. He was a great preacher, clear, 
cogent, fervid, and eloquent. His sermon on " The Moral 
Dignity of the Missionary Enterprise," published in many 
languages, and very widely circulated, was one of the most 
potent incentives to modern missions. In 1826 he was 
recalled to this college as professor of moral philosophy ; 
and early the next year was elected the fourth President 
of Brown University. Here, during twenty-eight years, 
his great life-work was done. He took rank with his own 
instructors, Nott, Leonard Woods, and Moses Stuart. 
He was a pioneer in introducing into the college course 
wider scientific studies and the elective system. His 
text-books, especially on ethics, had, and still have, great 
currency. He was a leader in organizing the public 
schools of Providence and of Rhode Island. He was the 
first president of the American Institute of Instruction. 
He gave much aid in the founding of free public libraries 
throughout New England. He was an acknowledged 
leader in all the affairs of the Baptist denomination. He 
was a public-spirited citizen. He continued throughout 
his life to preach the gospel, not only in leading pulpits 
on great occasions, but especially to his students ; and 
to them not simply in the college chapel, but individu- 
ally. His aim always was to make Christian scholars. 

Henry Philip Tappan, of the class of 1825, was born 
at Rhinebeck, N. Y., April 18, 1805, and died at Vevey, 
Switzerland, November 15, 1881. He was of Huguenot 
and Holland descent, his ancestors having been among 
the early settlers of the New Netherlands. His father, 
once in affluent circumstances, had met reverses; and 
Henry had to make his own way to and through college 
by teaching. Being graduated here at twenty, he studied 
theology three years at Auburn, and then became pastor 
of the Congregational Church at Pittsfield, Mass. He was 
an admirable preacher and a faithful pastor ; but at the 
end of three years bronchitis compelled him to leave the 
24* 



374 UNION COLLEGE. 

pulpit. In 1832 he accepted the chair of intellectual and 
moral philosophy in the University of the City of New 
York. For six years he filled this chair with signal abil- 
ity. For the fourteen years following he gave himself 
largely to authorship. He reviewed with masterly power 
Edwards's great work on " The Will," and wrote a treatise 
on logic, of which Victor Cousin said : " It is equal to any 
work on this subject that has appeared in Europe." In- 
deed, his books made him known in every educational 
center of the Old World, and in 1856 he was elected a 
corresponding member of the Institute of France. In 
1852, at the ripe age of forty-seven, he was called to the 
presidency of the University of Michigan. That insti- 
tution had been ten years in existence, but had had no 
president, the faculty electing one of its own number 
chairman annually. Speaking before the University 
Christian Association some years later, Dr. Tappan al- 
ludes thus to the sundering of his cherished associations 
in the East: "Believe me, it was a painful decision for 
me to make to accept that call, although so honorable, 
aud implying so much public trust. But I saw that I 
was called for no ordinary purpose, to enter upon no 
common work. A young, vigorous, free, enlightened, 
and magnanimous people had laid the foundation of a 
State university; they were aiming to open for them- 
selves one of the great fountains of civilization, of culture, 
of refinement, of true national grandeur and prosperity. 
While leveling the forests and turning up the furrows 
of the virgin soil to the sunlight, they would enter upon 
the race of knowledge and beautify and refine their new 
homes with learning and the liberal arts. It was the 
charm of this high promise and expectation that drew 
me here." 

Beyond even Francis Wayland, Dr. Tappan had broad 
and liberal ideas of the place and work of an American 
university. He thoroughly understood the European 



ADDEESS. 375 

system, and perceived how its best principles might be 
applied here. He believed the colleges of the East to be 
weak throug"h having no vital connection with schools of 
lower grade. So for eleven years he labored with unspar- 
ing energy, great wisdom, and magnificent success to 
unify, enlarge, and make permanent the educational sys- 
tem of the splendid commonwealth of Michigan. Of the 
result Professor Henry S. Frieze says : " This university, 
whatever may be its progress towards the highest devel- 
opment, whatever amplitude it may attain in the var- 
iety of its departments or the diversity of its learning, 
will always represent, and can never go beyond, the ideal 
held out before it by the first president." And President 
Angell writes : " You can hardly exaggerate our estimate 
of Dr. Tappan as a thinker and an educator and a leader." 
To have done such work for an institution that now 
numbers almost 3000 students is glory enough for any 
man ; but Dr. Tappan did more : he profoundly and 
permanently influenced the development of education 
throughout the entire West. 

Leonard Woods, of the class of 1827, son of Dr. Way- 
land's teacher of the same name, was born in Newbury, 
Mass., November 24, 1807, and died in Boston, Decem- 
ber 24, 1878. He studied theology at Andover, and was 
a resident graduate and tutor there until 1833. He was 
never a settled pastor, though an exceptionally able and 
eloquent preacher. Richard Henry Dana, his private 
pupil, says of him: "At twenty-four he had been the 
first pupil of Phillips Academy, first in every branch at 
Union College, foremost man of his period at Andover 
Seminary, and had published a translation of Knapp's 
' Christian Theology,' with a preface and notes, showing 
profound scholarship." He aided Edward Robinson in 
editing the "Biblical Repository," and Moses Stuart in 
preparing his commentary on the Epistle to the Ro- 
mans. For three years (1834-37) he edited the " Literary 



376 UNION COLLEGE. 

and Theological Review," and for two years was professor 
of sacred literature at Bangor. Then for twenty-seven 
years, from 1839-66, he was fourth president of Bow- 
doin College. Here his great life-work was accomplished. 
The college flourished under his administration in every 
way. Many men now of the highest distinction were 
his pupils, among them Chief Justice Fuller, Senator 
Frye, ex-Speaker Reed, General Howard, Newman and 
Egbert C. Smyth. Though great as a teacher, he was 
even greater as a man. His personality was charming 
in the highest degree. Professor Park pronounces him 
" even more remarkable for his conversation than for his 
public addresses." When in Rome, Gregory XVI. con- 
gratulated him upon his "excellent Latin, and the rich- 
ness of his discourse." The last twelve years of his life 
were devoted to researches in this country and in Europe 
relative to the early history of Maine. 

Laurens Perseus Hickok (What can I say further of 
him when I remember what Dr. Rossiter said last night ? 
And yet it is a name which you would be unwilling that 
I should omit), of the class of 1820, was born at Bethel, 
Conn., December 29, 1798, and died at Amherst, Mass., 
May 6, 1888. 

He studied theology under private teachers, as was 
much the custom at that period, and became pastor of 
the Congregational Church at Kent, Conn., where he re- 
mained for five years (1824-29). For an equal period he 
was pastor at Litchfield, succeeding Lyman Beecher. 
These ten years were very fruitful. Dr. Hickok's preach- 
ing was clear, pungent, and vigorous. He addressed the 
intellect and the conscience with great power, and the 
number of conversions, especially of thoughtful men, was 
very large under his ministry. In his first year at Litch- 
field upward of a hundred confessed Christ. But he was 
essentially a theologian and a philosopher. The call to 
found the department of theology at Western Reserve 



ADDEESS. 377 

College in northern Ohio, while his friend Dr. Beecher 
was doing a similar work at Cincinnati, was very attrac- 
tive to him ; and for eight years he had the opportunity 
of laying solid foundations in that new region. For an- 
other eight years he taught Christian theology at Auburn, 
having as pupils many notable men. In 1852 he returned 
to his alma mater as vice-president and professor of men- 
tal and moral science. It had been his lifelong ambition 
to found a genuine American university, with such ample 
courses and such an able faculty that our young men, 
however ambitious for specialized scholarship, need not 
go abroad to seek it. Dr. Hickok came to Union with 
the well-grounded hope of doing that great work here; 
but unforeseen obstacles prevented. For sixteen years, 
however, he taught and wrote, practically administering 
the college, and succeeding Dr. Nott as president in 1866. 
He easily takes rank with the three or four greatest meta- 
physicians of the age, and with the two or three greatest 
theologians. His thinking was remarkably profound. 
The elements of his system were clear to every attentive 
student; his ultimate reasonings tax the acutest intel- 
lect to follow. His beautiful integrity, simplicity, humil- 
ity ; his unfeigned piety ; his genuine interest in his 
pupils, endeared him to every, one who fell under his 
influence. His last years were spent in charming retire- 
ment at Amherst, where he worked steadily in revising 
his text-books and thinking out his system to its con- 
clusions, even after partial blindness had prevented his 
committing them to paper with his own hand. May I 
add it was my privilege, year after year, to make an 
annual visit to Dr. Hickok at Amherst, and he never 
ceased to express his earnest regard and concern for the 
welfare of Old Union ? (My watch admonishes me that I 
must turn down many of these pages.) 

John Howard Raymond, of the class of 1832, in which 
he took high honors, was born in New York city, March 



378 UNION COLLEGE. 

7, 1814, and died at Poughkeepsie, August 14, 1878. He 
studied law at New Haven, but his religious convictions 
forbade him to enter upon its practice, and in 1834 he 
entered the Baptist Theological Seminary at Hamilton, 
N. Y. He drifted at once into teaching, and was never 
a pastor, though he preached constantly and had espe- 
cial success in revival work. For ten years he taught 
rhetoric and English literature with brilliant success 
at Madison, and for five years filled a similar chair at 
Rochester University. In 1855 he was selected to or- 
ganize the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn, in which 
work he spent ten laborious and fruitful years, evincing 
the highest order of originality in conception and thor- 
oughness in method. His success here led to his being 
chosen in 1865 to continue, as its second president (prac- 
tically its first) the organization of Vassar College. Here 
he did the work of a pioneer in equipping a great institu- 
tion for the higher education of women. In the thirteen 
years of his incumbency he placed Vassar side by side 
with the older colleges for men. Meanwhile he taught 
mental and moral philosophy, and made a deep impres- 
sion upon his pupils. He sacrificed his life in his devo- 
tion to Vassar, which is his enduring monument. 

Lauremus Clark Seelye., of the class of 1857, was born 
at Bethel, Conn., September 20, 1837. He studied the- 
ology at Andover, and afterward at Berlin and Heidel- 
berg. 

His only pastorate was for two years over the North 
Congregational Church of Springfield, Mass., whence he 
was called to the professorship of English literature and 
oratory at Amherst. After eight years of efficient work 
here, he was chosen as organizer and first president of 
Smith College at Northampton. His twenty-two years 
there have been brilliantly successful. If Dr. Raymond 
provided the higher education for women at Vassar, Dr. 
Seelye has provided the highest at Smith. Its courses 



ADDKESS. 379 

of study rank with those of our best universities, and its 
work leaves nothing to be desired in point of thorough- 
ness. When such an institution was projected there was 
wide-spread doubt as to its feasibility. Even so ex- 
perienced an educator as Dr. Hickok questioned whether 
students could be found qualified to enter. But Dr. 
Seelye's faith in the desire and demand for such edu- 
cation by women, and in their ability to receive it, has 
been splendidly vindicated. 

Joseph Alden, of the class of 1829, a lineal descendant 
in the sixth generation of John Alden of the Mayflower, 
was born at Cairo, Greene County, N. Y., January 4, 1807, 
and died in New York city, August 30, 1885. He studied 
theology for two years at Princeton Seminary, and was 
for two years tutor in Princeton College. His only pas- 
torate was over the Congregational Church at Williams- 
town, Mass., where he made a deep impression by both 
mental and spiritual power. A failing voice disqualified 
him for the pulpit, and he became professor of rhetoric 
and political economy in Williams College, ranking next 
to the great President Hopkins in influence over the stu- 
dents. After seventeen years he was called, in 1852, to 
the chair of mental and moral philosophy in Lafayette 
College, and five years later to the presidency of Jeffer- 
son. After five years here, and some two years devoted 
to literary labor, he became president of the State Normal 
School at Albany, and rounded out his life with fifteen 
very busy and fruitful years of teaching teachers. He 
had a genius for teaching, aiming principally at the in- 
tellectual development of his pupils, having no rigid 
methods, but studying each individually, and adapting 
his work to personal traits and needs. Dr. Alden was a 
prolific author, the number of his titles reaching seventy- 
six, and his books covering a very wide range of themes. 
Not a few of his writings are of permanent value. 

Ransom Bethune Welch, of the class of 1846, was born 



380 UNION COLLEGE. 

in the town of Greenville, Greene County, N. Y., January 
27, 1824, and died at the Healing Springs, Va., June 29, 
1890. He was of Holland blood. From early boyhood 
he made his own way in the world, beginning at sixteen 
to teach district schools. Thus he passed with honors 
through academy and college. He studied theology at 
Andover under Dr. Park, and at Auburn under Dr.Hickok. 
Frail health disabled him for the arduous labor and in- 
cessant strain of permanent pastoral work. His three 
years at Catskill was his longest settlement ; here he did 
brilliant as well as faithful service, but it took five years 
to recuperate. Those years, however, were not spent in 
idleness. He read widely, and wrote largely for news- 
papers and reviews. In 1866 he returned to his Alma 
Mater as professor of rhetoric, logic, and English litera- 
ture. He filled this chair nobly for ten years, meanwhile 
producing a masterly volume on "Faith and Modern 
Thought." In 1876 he succeeded to the chair of his 
teacher and friend Dr. Hickok as professor of Christian 
theology at Auburn. To this great place and work the 
last fourteen years of his life were given. His theology 
was Christocentric, irenic, constructive. He held both 
the respect and the love of his students. His fit monu- 
ment is the Welch Hall at Auburn, to build which he left 
a bequest of $36,000. 

John Williamson Nevin, of the class of 1821, was born 
near Strasburg, Franklin County, Pa., February 20, 1803, 
and died at Lancaster, Pa., June 6, 1886. He was of 
Scotch-Irish descent. As a student at Princeton Semi- 
nary he distinguished himself in Oriental scholarship, 
and for two years taught Hebrew as a substitute for Dr. 
Charles Hodge, who was studying in Europe. From 1829 
to 1840 he was professor of biblical literature in the 
Western Seminary at Allegheny ; and for thirteen years 
in the German Reformed Seminary at Mercersburg. 
Here he was associated with Dr. Philip Schaff, the two 



ADDEESS. 381 

men adding greatly to the fame and power of the insti- 
tution. Dr. Nevin was a remarkable thinker and teacher, 
and left an indelible impress on his pupils. Side by side 
with this professorship he held for twelve years the presi- 
dency of Marshall College at Mercersburg ; for four years 
edited the "Mercersburg Review"; and published a large 
number of theological works, many of them of intrinsic 
and permanent value. 

George Washington Eaton, of the class of 1829, was 
born at Huntington, Pa., July 3, 1804, and died at Ham- 
ilton, N. Y., August 3, 1872. He took no regular theo- 
logical course, and was never a pastor, though ordained 
to the Baptist ministry. He was an able and effective 
preacher, and his paramount interest was the education 
of young men for the ministry. For thirty-eight years 
his labors were given to what is now Colgate University, 
as professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, of 
ecclesiastical and civil history, of intellectual and moral 
philosophy, of systematic theology, and as president of 
both the seminary and the university. His personal influ- 
ence among students and alumni was extraordinary, and 
his memory is cherished with peculiar affection. 

Silas Totten, of the class of 1830, was born in Scho- 
harie County, N. Y., March 26, 1804, and died at Lexing- 
ton, Ky., October 7, 1873. He was ordained to the Prot- 
estant Episcopal ministry by Bishop Brownell in 1833. 
The same year he was elected professor of mathematics 
and natural philosophy in Trinity College, Hartford, 
Conn., and from 1837-48 was its third president. The 
college prospered greatly during his administration : 
Brownell Hall was built, the library and endowments 
were increased, and a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa was 
created, of which he was the first president. For eleven 
years (1848-59) Dr. Totten was professor of belles-lettres 
at William and Mary College, Virginia ; and for five years 
chancellor of the University of Iowa. His only rectorship 



382 UNION COLLEGE. 

was for two years at Decatur, 111., after which he resumed 
teaching in 1866 at Lexington, Ky. 

Eos well Park, of the class of 1831, was born at Leba- 
non, Conn., October 1, 1807, and died at Ravenswood, 111., 
July 10, 1869. While a sophomore at Hamilton College 
he received a cadetship at West Point, where he was 
graduated in 1831 at the head of his class, performing 
the feat which Mr. Fiero a few moments ago described 
as performed by his friend Judge Amasa J. Parker. 
He had found time for classical studies, and a brief 
period of labor at Union entitled him to his B. A. He 
was made lieutenant in the engineer corps, and did 
excellent work at Newport, Boston, and the Delaware 
Breakwater. For six years he was professor of natu- 
ral philosophy and chemistry in the University of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1842 he resigned, studied theology at Bur- 
lington, N. J., and was ordained to the Protestant 
Episcopal ministry. He founded a private school for 
boys at Pomf ret, Conn., and carried it on very success- 
fully till 1852. The next year he was called to become 
the founder and first president of Racine College, Wis. 
With this work for ten years he combined the rectorship 
of a parish. He had calls to the presidency of various 
other institutions, among them Norwich University. He 
was a pioneer in introducing scientific courses into the 
college curriculum, and was one of the original members 
of the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science. His " Pantology " was one of the earliest efforts 
in this country to summarize and classify knowledge in 
encyclopedic form. 

Erastus Darwin McMaster, of the class of 1827, was 
born at Mercer Village, Mercer County, Pa., February 4, 
1806, and died at Chicago, December 10, 1866. He studied 
theology under his father. After a seven years' pastorate 
at Ballston, N. Y., he was called to be the second presi- 
dent of Hanover College. He found the institution feeble 



ADDRESS. 383 

in every way, but led it to a career of prosperity, which 
was checked, however, by the unfortunate attempt to 
remove it to the neighboring city of Madison. For four 
years he was president of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 
and for eight years professor of systematic theology at 
New Albany, Ind. He died six months after assuming 
the same chair in the Northwestern Seminary at Chicago. 

John Ludlow, of the class of 1814, was born at Ac- 
quackanonck, N. J., December 13, 1793, and died at New 
Brunswick, N. J., September 8, 1857. He was of English 
and Dutch descent. He led his class in college, and hav- 
ing remained as a tutor for one year, studied theology at 
New Brunswick. In 1817 he settled over the Dutch Ee- 
formed Church of that city, and soon became known for 
his learning and eloquence. In 1823 he became pastor of 
the historic First Reformed (Dutch) Church of Albany, 
and served it brilliantly for eleven years. In 1834 he 
was chosen seventh provost of the University of Penn- 
sylvania. His administration of eighteen years was 
highly vigorous and successful. He permanently revived 
the law school, and broadened the university in every 
direction. He preached almost constantly, and lectured 
before the Athenian Institute, the Mercantile Library As- 
sociation, and the Smithsonian Institution. The last five 
years of his life were spent in teaching ecclesiastical his- 
tory and church government at New Brunswick. 

Henry "White, of the class of 1824,. was born at Dur- 
ham, N. Y., June 19, 1800, and died in New York city, 
August 25, 1850. His early years were spent working 
on the farm and attending the district schools, and from 
seventeen onward in teaching. He distinguished him- 
self in college, especially in mathematics and philosophy. 
He studied theology at Princeton ; labored in the South 
for the American Bible Society for two years; and in 
1828 was called to the Allen Street Presbyterian Church 
of New York city. He was a lucid and strong preacher, 



384 UNION COLLEGE. 

avoiding speculations, and dwelling on revealed truths. 
He won the respect and confidence of the metropolis to 
an unusual degree. He was one of the founders of the 
Union Theological Seminary, and its first professor of 
theology. Here he worked uninterruptedly for fourteen 
years. Indeed, he overtaxed a slight frame already im- 
paired by obstinate dyspepsia, and dying at the early 
age of fifty, exclaimed, " I am a victim of overwork." 
He did much to shape the broad, irenic, comprehensive 
policy that marks Union Theological Seminary. 

Robert Raikes Raymond, of the class of 1837, was born 
in New York city, November 2, 1817, and died at Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., November 16, 1888. While in college his 
father failed in business, and the son supported himself 
by writing for the press. After graduation he continued 
newspaper work in Philadelphia and Cincinnati ; taught 
a private school; and read law in the office of Salmon 
P. Chase. When beginning to practise he felt himself 
called to the ministry, and studied theology for two years 
at Madison University. He held Baptist pastorates at 
Hartford, Conn., and at Syracuse, N. Y. In this latter 
city he was a most eloquent and effective advocate of 
freedom as agaiust the recently enacted fugitive-slave 
law. In the Presidential campaign of 1856 he wrote the 
famous song, to the tune of the "Marseillaise," whose 
chorus thrilled the country from east to west : 

Free press, free speech, free soil, free men, 
Fremont and victory ! 

In 1857 Dr. Raymond joined his brother John Howard 
as professor of English literature and rhetoric at the 
Brooklyn Polytechnic. Here and in the Boston School 
of Oratory (of which he was the head), in his Shakspere 
class and his dramatic readings, and with a great number 
of private pupils, he distinctly elevated and advanced the 
art of public speech in America. 



ADDEESS. 385 

Eliphalet Nott Potter, of the class of 1861, was born at 
Schenectady, N. Y., September 20, 1836. He is the son 
of Bishop Alonzo Potter, and has eight brothers, all of 
whom, like himself, have gained eminence. He studied 
theology at the Berkeley Divinity School; did effective 
mission work in the Lehigh Valley; was a chaplain in the 
Civil War ; was the first professor of the Lehigh Univer- 
sity ; and in 1869 became rector of St. Paul's, Troy, N. Y. 
In 1871 he became president of Union College, which, 
under his administration, became Union University in 
1873. [Applause.] For thirteen years he filled this office 
with vigor and wide success, and for the past eleven years 
he has been the efficient president of Hobart College. 

William Augustus Van Vranken Mabon, of the class 
of 1840, was born at New Brunswick, N. J., January 24, 
1822, studied theology at New Brunswick, and became 
pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Durham, Hud- 
son County, N. J., in 1846. His ministry was very suc- 
cessful, but he added to it many other labors : for seven 
years he was superintendent of the public schools of the 
county, for seventeen years examiner of all the teachers, 
and for five years commissioner for the equalization of 
taxes. His last work was done as professor of theology 
at New Brunswick. 

Alexander McClelland, of the class of 1809, after a pas- 
torate of seven years in New York city, devoted twenty- 
nine j r ears to teaching at Dickinson and Rutgers colleges, 
and at the Theological Seminary in New Brunswick. 
John Williams Proudfit, of the class of 1821, had a use- 
ful pastorate at Newburyport, Mass. ; but his chief work 
was done as professor of Latin and Greek in the Univer- 
sity of New York for seven years, and in Rutgers College 
for nineteen years. Hiram Plummer Goodrich, of the 
class of 1823, was professor of biblical literature for ten 
years at the Union Seminary, Va. ; and John Holt Rice, 
probably the ablest and most influential Presbyterian 
25 



386 UNION COLLEGE. 

minister of his day, said of him : " He makes the critical 
study of the Bible a means of promoting the piety of the 
students. He is worth more than his weight in gold." 
Cyrus Mason, of the class of 1824, was professor in the 
New York University from 1836-50, teaching belles-let- 
tres, political economy, and evidences of revealed reli- 
gion. Maunsell Van Rensselaer, of the class of 1838, after 
several brief rectorships, was from 1859-72 president of 
De Veaux College at Niagara, and from 1872-76 of Hobart 
College, Geneva. John Gulian Lansing, of the class of 
1875, was born in Damascus, in the street called " Straight." 
He studied theology at New Brunswick, had successful 
pastorates at Mohawk and West Troy, New York, and 
since 1884 has been professor of Old Testament languages 
at New Brunswick. He is especially interested in Arabic, 
his native tongue, and is the founder of the Arabian mis- 
sion. He has just published a commentary on the Song 
of Songs. 

No one can be more painfully sensible than I of how 
inadequately this brief mention of twenty-four men rep- 
resents the work of our clerical alumni in the department 
of teaching. Many men that have taught for the longest 
periods and with the most success have not even been 
named, as William Thompson, of the class of 1827, for 
fifty-five years in the Theological Seminary at Hartford, 
Conn., and John S. Kidney, of the class of 1838, for 
twenty-four years professor of divinity in the Seabury 
Divinity School of Fairbault, Minn. But I have aimed 
not so much to give a catalogue of brilliant teachers as 
to indicate the vast scope of their work. We are wont 
to think of ministers as competent to teach only theology, 
but our graduates have taught mathematics, languages, 
science, metaphysics, ethics, logic, rhetoric, oratory — all 
with notable power. They have administered public 
schools, private schools, academies, colleges, theological 
seminaries, universities, with brilliant success. They 
have led the way in nearly all valuable new departure 



ADDKESS. 387 

in education, normal training, scientific courses, eclectic 
studies, the higher and the highest education of women. 
Their text-books, from the normal methods of Alden to 
the logic of Tappan and the mental and moral science of 
Wayland and Hickok, are still instructing many times 
the number of those whom these men reached by the 
voice in the class-room. If the story of " Union College 
in the Ministry" should stop just here, — where I think 
you would be thankful to me if I would stop [laughter], — 
it would be one of which any institution of learning in 
the country might well be proud; but I am not going to 
stop, even to please you. [Laughter.] 

Among our alumni are six bishops of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, and no greater names adorn the roll of 
the episcopate in this country. Thomas Church Brown- 
ell, of the class of 1804, was born at Westport, Mass., 
October 19, 1779, and died at Hartford, Conn., January 
13, 1865. He was a student at Brown University, 1800-02 ; 
and when Dr. Jonathan Maxcy was elected president of 
Union College young Brownell followed him here, and 
was graduated the year that Dr. Nott succeeded Dr 
Maxcy. He studied theology under Dr. Nott. From his 
graduation until 1818, fourteen years, he was tutor in 
Latin and Greek, professor of belles-lettres and moral 
philosophy, of chemistry and mineralogy. He spent a 
year in travel and study in Europe. Originally a Con- 
gregationalist, he was ordained to the Episcopal minis- 
try, and became assistant at Trinity Church, New York. 
The next year, October 27, 1819, he was consecrated the 
third bishop of Connecticut. His administration of his 
diocese was eminently wise and vigorous. He was the 
chief founder of Trinity College, and its first president 
for seven years, 1824-31. From 1852, for thirteen years, 
until his death, he was the presiding bishop. He was a 
large contributor to the current literature of the day, and 
published several valuable volumes. 

George Upfold, of the class of 1814, was born near 



388 UNION COLLEGE. 

Guildford, Surrey, England, May 7, 1796, and died at In- 
dianapolis, Ind., August 26, 1872. From eight years of 
age he was a resident of Albany, New York. He took a 
two years' course at the College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons in New York city, and then entered upon the study 
of theology under Bishop Hobart. He was rector suc- 
cessively in Lansingburgh, New York, Pittsburg, and 
Lafayette, Indiana. He was for twenty-three years the 
first bishop of Indiana, and performed the arduous labors 
of a new and very large diocese with vigor and success. 
George Washington Doane, of the class of 1818, was 
born at Trenton, N. J., May 27, 1799, and died at Bur- 
lington, N. J., April 27, 1859. He studied for the minis- 
try at the General Theological Seminary, New York city. 
Ordained in 1823, he was assistant at Trinity Church, 
New York, for a year ; for four years professor in Trinity 
College, Hartford ; and for two years assistant, and two 
years rector, at Trinity Church, Boston. In 1832 he was 
consecrated the second bishop of New Jersey. This office 
he held for twenty-seven years. He was indefatigable in 
labor ; but his controversial and somewhat domineering 
temper made him many enemies, and his life was stormy. 
He founded institutions of learning at Burlington for 
both boys and girls. He was no mean poet, and his vol- 
ume called " Songs by the Way " contains much of merit. 
His most popular hymns are: — 

" Softly now the light of day 
Fades upon my sight away." 

and 

" Thou art the way : to Thee alone 
From sin and death we flee." 

Alonzo Potter, of the class of 1818, was born at La 
Grange, Dutchess County, N. Y., July 6, 1800, and died 
on board the steamer Colorado, in the harbor of San 



ADDKESS. 389 

Francisco, July 4, 1865. His father was a farmer, and 
both his parents belonged to the Society of Friends. He 
entered college at the early age of fifteen ; took the first 
rank in scholarship, and was graduated with the highest 
honors. He attributed his first love of books to the read- 
ing of "Robinson Crusoe." Shortly after graduation he 
was baptized and confirmed in Philadelphia, and entered 
upon the private study of theology. But he was soon 
called to Union as a tutor, and at twenty-one was pro- 
fessor of mathematics and natural philosophy. After five 
years he became rector of St. Paul's, Boston, where he at 
once became a power for good, and soon brought the 
church into the first rank. But five years of labor here 
impaired his health, and he returned to Union as pro- 
fessor of mental and moral philosophy and political econ- 
omy, a chair in which he did splendid work for thirteen 
years. For the last seven years of that period he was 
also vice-president of the college, and its administration 
was largely in his hands. During all this time, his rela- 
tions with Dr. Nott were most intimate. He was really 
a member of the president's family, having married his 
only daughter in 1824. Meanwhile he had been offered 
a professorship in the General Theological Seminary in 
New York city ; the presidency of Hobart College, and 
the bishoprics of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Wes- 
tern New York, all of which positions he had declined. 
In 1845 he accepted the bishopric of Pennsylvania, and 
held it twenty years. The whole State quickly felt the 
influence of his zeal and labor and wisdom. He founded 
the Episcopal hospital, academy, and divinity school of 
Philadelphia; established young men's lyceums, work- 
ingmen's institutes, and popular lectures; vigorously 
pushed the cause of temperance ; and was felt far aud 
wide in all departments of education. His magnificent 
intellectual powers were splendidly shown in his sixty 
Lowell lectures, 1845-53, delivered to immense crowds, 
25* 



390 UNION COLLEGE. 

without notes, and traversing the whole ground of phil- 
osophy. His character was massive and solid; his life 
clean and honest to the last degree ; and his piety most 
simple and sincere. 

Horatio Potter, of the class of 1826, brother of Alonzo, 
was born at La Grange, N. Y., February 9, 1802, and died 
in New York city, January 2, 1887. He was ordained in 
1828, and began his ministry at Saco, Maine; but was 
almost at once made professor of mathematics and natu- 
ral philosophy at Trinity College, where he labored five 
years. In 1833 he became rector of St. Peter's, Albany, 
and for twenty-one years, except for occasional absences 
in Europe on account of ill health, he labored with 
marked success as both preacher and pastor. For thirty 
years, 1854-84, he was the active, wise, laborious bishop 
of New York. He found the diocese distracted, but his 
administration soon brought peace. He practically ban- 
ished controversy. He made great progress in popular- 
izing his church among the poor, and the laboring classes. 
The twenty-fifth anniversary of his consecration was ob- 
served with great distinction at the Academy of Music, 
May 3, 1883 ; and the citizens of the metropolis, without 
distinction of sect, crowded to do him honor. 

Abram Newkirk Littlejohn, of the class of 1845, was 
born at Florida, Montgomery County, New York, De- 
cember 13, 1824. He studied theology at Princeton, was 
ordained in 1848, and was rector successively at Amster- 
dam, N. Y. ; Meriden, Conn. ; Springfield, Mass., and New 
Haven, Conn., where he remained nine years. He had 
large numbers of Yale students among his parishioners, 
and exerted over them a most stimulating and salutary 
influence. From 1860-69 he was rector of Holy Trinity, 
Brooklyn, and for the last twenty-six years he has been 
bishop of the diocese of Long Island. The chief monu- 
ment of his wise and earnest administration is the mag- 
nificent foundation at Garden City, with its cathedral, 



ADDBESS. 391 

schools, and princely endowments. From 1874-86 Bishop 
Littlejohn had the oversight of all the American Epis- 
copal churches in Europe. 

Our clerical alumni have filled many important executive 
places in connection with the missionary boards and other 
agencies of the Church. William Chester, of the class 
of 1815, was born at Wethersfield, Conn., November 20, 
1795, and died at Washington, D. C, May 23, 1865. His 
father, John, commanded at Bunker Hill the regiment 
on whose action Webster said the fortunes of the day 
turned. William studied theology at Princeton. He was 
Presbyterian pastor for three years at Gralway, N. Y., and 
for eight years at Hudson. His ministry was greatly 
successful. The remaining thirty-three years of his life 
were devoted to the Presbyterian Board of Education as 
agent and secretary. He did the work of the present 
Board of Education and the present Board of Aid for Col- 
leges and Academies. He was instrumental in founding 
seven colleges, and in helping many others out of finan- 
cial embarrassment. His wise foresight and arduous 
labors have resulted in giving the opportunities of edu- 
cation to a multitude of young men. 

Samuel H. Hall, of the class of 1837, was born in Ge- 
neva, N. Y., in 1819, and died at Newark, N. J., October 10, 
1890. He began the study of law at Cleveland, 0., but, 
becoming a Christian, decided to enter the ministry, and 
pursued his studies in theology at the Union Seminary 
in New York. He had pastorates at Marshall, Mich., and 
at Syracuse and Owego, N. Y. During the Civil War 
lie did noble service in the Christian Commission. In 
1865 he was elected secretary of the American Seamen's 
Friend Society, and continued in that office for over 
twenty- two years. He presented the religious needs of 
sailors with fervor and success in a multitude of pulpits, 
and secured large sums of money for work in their behalf. 

Edwin Wilbur Eice, of the class of 1854, was born near 



392 UNION COLLEGE. 

Kingsboro, N. Y., July 24, 1831. He prepared for col- 
lege at the academies of Kingsboro and Little Falls. He 
studied law at Johnstown, N. Y., but deciding to enter 
the ministry, took his theological course at the Union 
Seminary, New York city. He was never a pastor, but 
from 1861 to the present has been connected with the 
American Sunday School Union. He has been mission- 
ary, district agent and superintendent, associate secre- 
tary and secretary, assistant editor and editor-in-chief. 
He has also been the leader in the financial management 
of the Union, canceling a debt of $250,000 and secur- 
ing a permanent endowment of $350,000. Dr. Rice has 
shown a remarkable perception of what the people need, 
and will accept, in the way of helps for Bible study, for 
both old and young. He has made the lesson helps, 
from the primary to the most advanced grade, as popu- 
lar as they are useful. His publications number thirty- 
five volumes, including a history of the books of the 
Bible, a " People's Dictionary of the Bible," " People's 
Commentary on the Gospels," and many others. Nor 
does the fact that these books are written for the people 
imply any lack of scholarship in them, for they have 
received the commendation of many most thorough stu- 
dents of the Bible. Few men of this generation have 
done more than Dr. Rice to popularize the study of the 
sacred Scriptures. 

Time will permit only the mention of Alfred Elderkin 
Campbell, of the class of 1820, nine years secretary of 
the American and Foreign Christian Union, and of John 
A. Lansing, of the class of 1842, eighteen years secretary of 
the Board of Education of the Reformed (Dutch) Church. 

Our clerical alumni have done their full share in the 
work of foreign missions. Stephen Mattoon, of the class 
of 1842, was born in Champion, N. Y., May 5, 1816, and 
died at Marion, O., August 15, 1889. He studied theology 
at Princeton, and was for twenty years (1846-66) a mis- 



ADDEESS. 393 

sionary of the Presbyterian Church in Siam. Though 
bitterly opposed at first, he soon won the confidence of 
the people. He was the first to translate the Gospels 
into the Siamese tongue, and his last work there was the 
revision of the whole New Testament in the vernacular. 
" He was a leader in all the enterprises and details con- 
nected with the mission, and his prudent counsel was 
sought and his advice accepted by all." After his return, 
due to the failing health of his wife, he was for four- 
teen years president of Biddle University at Charlotte, 
N. C, and for half that period was also professor of the- 
ology. Samuel R. House, of the class of 1837, who bap- 
tized the first convert after twelve years of the hardest 
pioneer labor, and Stephen Bush, of the class of 1845, 
have also been missionaries in Siam. 

Grulian Lansing, of the class of 1847, studied at the 
Newburg Theological Seminary, and early in 1851 reached 
Damascus, his chosen field of labor. At the end of one 
year he was able to preach in Arabic. After five years 
failing health compelled his return, but he so improved 
at sea that he at once set sail again for the Orient. Late 
in 1857 he reached Cairo, which for thirty-five years, till 
his death, September 12, 1892, was the scene of his in- 
defatigable labors. He was called the " Head of the Ameri- 
can Mission in Egypt." For many years he was pastor 
of a church at Cairo, and taught Hebrew and hermeneu- 
tics to young men in training for the ministry. He was 
a man of wide and accurate scholarship, of simple faith, 
of undaunted courage, and of boundless persistence in 
his work. 

Augustus Brodhead, of the class of 1855, was born at 
Milford, Pa., May 13, 1831, and died at Toronto, Can., 
August 29, 1887. He studied theology at Princeton. No- 
vember 7, 1858, he sailed for Ino* a as a missionary of the 
Presbyterian Board, twice nari/ wly escaping shipwreck 
during the voyage. He labore , twenty years in all the 



394 UNION COLLEGE. 

various activities of a missionary's life, editing the mis- 
sion magazine and publishing valuable books in the na- 
tive language, preparing a hymn-book for Sunday-schools 
and church services, cooperating with the Bible and Tract 
societies, and constantly preaching the gospel. His busi- 
ness capacity was marked, and he largely managed the 
financial affairs of the mission. His excellent judgment, 
kind heart, and most exemplary piety endeared him to 
a very wide circle of friends, and made his influence in 
India exceptionally great. Ill health compelled his re- 
turn, and his last years were spent usefully in the pas- 
torate at Bridgeton, N. J. 

The ivorh of many of our clerical alumni has been so 
varied, and much of it so far aside from the ordinary rou- 
tine of the ministry, that it is very difficult to classify thou. 
Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, of the class of 1819, was 
born at Cabell's Dale, Kentucky, March 8, 1800, and died 
at Danville, Kentucky, December 27, 1871. He studied 
law, and practised it for eight years, meanwhile being a 
member of the Kentucky legislature for four sessions. 
He spent a year at Princeton Seminary, and in 1832 
became pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of 
Baltimore, Md., where he had a successful pastorate of 
thirteen years. For eight years of this period he was 
editor of the Baltimore " Literary and Religious Maga- 
zine." For two years (1845-47) he was president of Jef- 
ferson College. For the six years following he was pastor 
of the First Presbyterian Church of Lexington, and Su- 
perintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Ken- 
tucky. For sixteen years (1853-69) he was professor of 
systematic and polemic theology at Danville. In all 
these varied positions he displayed large grasp of in- 
tellect and indefatigable industry. He was a stanch 
unionist during the Civil War, and did much to hold 
his State to loyalty, or rather to prevent its secession. 
He was a born controversialist. His attacks on Roman 



ADDRESS. 395 

Catholicism were extremely bitter. He was the author 
of the Act and Testimony of 1834, which played so 
large a part in the disruption of the Presbyterian Church 
in 1837 ; and he steadfastly opposed the re-union which 
was accomplished in 1870. 

Sheldon Jackson, of the class of 1855, was born at 
Minaville, New York, May 18, 1834. He took a full 
course of three years at Princeton, and receiving ordina- 
tion by the presbytery of Albany, went at once as mis- 
sionary to the Choctaws. For five years he was a home 
missionary at La Crescent, Minn., and for another five 
pastor at Rochester in the same State. From 1869-82 he 
was superintendent of Presbyterian Home Missions in 
all the Rocky Mountain region. His restless activity, 
ardent zeal, unflagging energy, and marvelous executive 
talent did wonders for the extension of religion and the 
organization of churches in the Territories. He was pio- 
neer, prospector, administrator, all in one. No man was 
more quick to see an opportunity, or more efficient to 
seize it. In 1872 he established a newspaper called " The 
Rocky Mountain Presbyterian" at Denver; in 1882 it 
was transferred to New York city under the name of 
" The Presbyterian Home Missionary," and for three years 
he was in control of it. He brought many Indian chil- 
dren from the far West to be educated at Hampton, Va., 
and Carlisle, Pa. ; and probably no other man had the 
confidence of the tribes sufficiently to procure these chil- 
dren at that date, 1879. He was one of the first to 
perceive the needs and opportunities in Alaska, and 
whatever work of civilization is going on in that remote 
country owes its initiative principally to him. For the 
last ten years (1885-95) he has been the general agent of 
the United States for education in Alaska, under the In- 
terior Department. He found the natives facing actual 
starvation owing to the destruction of the seal and the 
walrus, and has conducted the successful experiment of 



396 UNION COLLEGE. 

introducing Siberian reindeer. There is little of our ter- 
ritory, from the Mississippi to the Aleutian Islands, over 
which Dr. Jackson has not traveled on religious and 
humanitarian errands, and the whole broad expanse is 
dotted with the monuments of his wisdom and energy. 

Allen Wright, of the class of 1852, was for four years 
— the longest period allowed by law — governor, or prin- 
cipal chief, of the Choctaw Nation of Indians. He was 
also superintendent of their schools. The Indian Office 
report for 1869 speaks in glowing terms of the Nation's 
progress in agriculture and education under his leader- 
ship. He was many times their representative before 
the Interior Department and before committees of Con- 
gress at Washington ; and was one of the commissioners 
that negotiated the last treaty with the Choctaws, — that 
of 1866, — in which slavery among them, or involuntary 
servitude except for crime, is abolished. His latest offi- 
cial visit to Washington was in 1882. 

Frederick Z. Rooker, of the class of 1884, took his theo- 
logical studies and degrees at the American College in 
Rome, of which he was at once on graduation appointed 
vice-rector. He had the general management of the in- 
stitution, with regular classes in the college, and with 
frequent lectures on dogmatic theology at the Propa- 
ganda, as supplying the place of Mgr. Satolli, then hold- 
ing that chair. After six years of this service he was 
made secretary to the apostolic delegation at Washing- 
ton, which high and responsible position he now holds. 
He is the first American to hold a commission in the 
official representation of the Holy See in this or in any 
other country. 

Perhaps we should have a category of authors. Nearly 
all the men thus far named have done something in 
authorship ; many of them much of permanent value. 
Among these, along with Alden and Rice, our most pro- 
lific writers, should be mentioned Alexander Dickson, of 



ADDBESS. 397 

the class of 1846, not for the number of his books, — for 
he has published only two, — but for their quality. " All 
About Jesus," and " Beauty for Ashes " are among the best 
devotional volumes in the language. The former has been 
likened by reviewers to Bunyan and Rutherford, and by 
Dr. Charles Hodge to St. Bernard. Although Dr. Dick- 
son was in the pastorate only ten years, he has been do- 
ing an essentially pastoral service of comforting the sor- 
rowing through these volumes for twice that period. 

I have mentioned but forty-seven names out of the 
1312 on our clerical roll — do you not feel discouraged ? 
[Laughter.] Yet what a total of solid, substantial work 
do their lives represent ! If we could summon before us 
all that have been influenced for good by their writings, 
their instruction, their administration of sacred trusts, 
what a throng would fill and overflow this spacious cam- 
pus ! Yet it would be but a fraction of those that have 
come under the cultured and Christian power of our 
alumni in the ministry. For most of the remaining 1265 
have been pastors of churches in nearly all the denomin- 
ations in this land. This does not mean fame. It means 
generally only a local reputation. But it means a verdict 
by the jury of the vicinage of clean and honest lives; of 
faithful preaching of saving truth ; of quiet, self-denying 
ministry to the poor, the suffering, the dying ; of a mighty 
total of influence thrown for every genuine reform, and 
for all generous, exalted thinking and living. 

Some of our clerical alumni have been remarkable, 
among other things, for the length of their pastorates over 
the same congregations. William R. DeWitt, of the class 
of 1816, was born at Rhinebeck, N. Y., February 25, 1792, 
and died at Harrisburgh, Pa., December 23, 1867. He 
was a soldier in the War of 1812. He studied theology 
with Dr. Alexander Proudfit at Salem, and with Dr. John 
M. Mason in New York city. His only settlement was 
over the Presbyterian Church of Harrisburgh, Pa., from 



398 UNION COLLEGE. 

1818 till his death, forty-nine years. His congregation 
at the capital embraced many of the most learned and 
thoughtful men of the great commonwealth, and he held 
them by force of ability and character. 

Samuel M. Haskins, of the class of 1836, was born in 
Waterford, Me., May 29, 1813, and prepared for college 
at Bridgeton, near his native place. He studied theology 
at the General Seminary in New York city, and his only 
pastorate has been over St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal 
Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., for fifty-six years. Three 
congregations have colonized from St. Mark's, and twenty- 
five young men have gone from it into the ministry, two 
of whom have become bishops. 

Thomas DeWitt, of the class of 1808, was born at Kings- 
ton, N. Y., September 13, 1791, and died in New York city, 
May 18, 1874. He studied theology at New Brunswick. 
He was pastor of the Hopewell and New Hackensack 
Reformed (Dutch) churches for fifteen years, and of the 
Collegiate Church, New York city, for forty-seven years. 
He was a trustee of Columbia and Rutgers colleges, vice- 
president and president of the New York Historical So- 
ciety, and from its early days a member of the Council of 
the University of New York. The metropolis had no 
more honored and worthy citizen. 

John Dunlap Wells, of the class of 1838, was born at 
Whitesboro, N. Y., October 25, 1815. For eight years 
after graduation here he was principal of an academy at 
Huntsville, Alabama. He studied theology at Princeton, 
and after some six years of service in teaching and as 
stated-supply, he became pastor of the South Third Street 
Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., where he has 
continued to this day, forty-five years. He has been a 
member of the Board of Foreign Missions of his church 
for forty-one years, and its president for the past ten 
years ; also a trustee of Princeton Seminary for twenty 
years. 



ADDEESS. 399 

James Robert Graham, of the class of 1844, was born 
at Montgomery, Orange County, N. Y., July 16, 1824. 
He taught several years at Union after graduation; then 
studied theology at Princeton. Since 1851, for forty- 
four years, he has been pastor of the Kent Street Pres- 
byterian Church of Winchester, Va. For over forty-two 
years he has been stated clerk of his presbytery, I be- 
lieve an unparalleled term of continuous service. In 1894 
he was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Pres- 
byterian Church (South). 

William Carpenter Wisner, of the class of 1830, was 
born at Elmira, N. Y., December 7, 1808, and died at 
Lockport, July 14, 1880. He studied theology privately, 
was ordained at the early age of twenty-three ; and after 
five years' various service settled over the Presbyterian 
Church at Lockport, where he remained thirty-nine years. 
He was a man of solid learning, and his speech was en- 
livened by brilliant wit. He labored very successfully 
in many revivals, and became known and loved in all 
Western New York. He was twenty-five years a trustee 
of Hamilton College, and eleven years of Auburn Semi- 
nary, to which he left his valuable private library. 

Alexander McLeod, of the class of 1798, was born in 
the Island of Mull, Scotland, June 12, 1774, and died in 
New York city, February 17, 1833. His only pastorate, 
of thirty-two years, was over the First Reformed Pres- 
byterian Church in New York. His remarkable elo- 
quence gave him wide fame. He was one of the editors 
of " The Christian Magazine " and a prolific writer. As 
early as 1802 he published a volume entitled "Negro 
Slavery Unjustifiable," which was of sufficient value to 
be re-published in 1860. 

Charles Newman Waldron, of the class of 1846, was 
born in Albany, N. Y., December 25, 1821, and died 
at Detroit, Mich., March 2, 1888. He studied theology at 
Princeton, and after a few months as stated-supply at 



400 UNION COLLEGE. 

East Hampton, Long Island, settled over the Reformed 
(Dutch) Church at Cohoes, N. Y., and remained thirty 
years. He was a strong, Scriptural, scholarly preacher; 
a modest, devout Christian, and did a work of permanent 
value. 

James McFarlane Matthews, of the class of 1803, was 
born at Salem, N. Y., March 18, 1785, and died in New 
York city, January 28, 1870. He studied theology at 
New Brunswick, and was associate professor of ecclesi- 
astical history there for ten years. He founded the South 
Reformed (Dutch) Church in Grarden Street, New York, 
and was its pastor for twenty-nine years. He was one 
of the founders of the University of the City of New 
York, and its first chancellor, 1831-39. 

Charles S. Vedder, of the class of 1851, was a tutor 
here ; studied theology at Columbia, S. C; was pastor for 
five years at Summerville ; in 1867 was called to the 
Huguenot Church of Charleston, where he is still in act- 
ive service after twenty-eight years. His influence in 
the city and State has been, and is, potent for good. He 
is a public school commissioner for Charleston, presi- 
dent of the Charleston Bible Society, of the City Board 
of Missions, of the Training School for Nurses, and of 
the New England Society. Many of his sermons, plat- 
form addresses, and poems have been published. 

William Melancthon Johnson, of the class of 1858, was 
born at Cambridge, N. Y., May 1, 1834. He took the full 
three years' course in theology at Princeton; was pastor 
six years at Stillwater, N. Y.; in 1867 was called to the 
Presbyterian Church at Cohoes, which he continues to 
serve after twenty-eight years. His ministry has been 
most diligent and efficient, and he has the confidence and 
affection of all his fellow-townsmen. 

Ichabod Smith Spencer, of the class of 1822, was born 
at Rupert, Vt., February 23, 1798, and died at Brooklyn, 
N. Y., November 23, 1854. He prepared for college at 



ADDEESS. 401 

Salem, 1ST. Y., where he enjoyed the friendship and coun- 
sels of Dr. Proudfit. After graduation, he was for six 
years principal of academies at Schenectady and Canan- 
daigua, meanwhile studying theology under the direction 
of Dr. Andrew Yates, professor of moral philosophy at 
Union. From 1828-32 he was colleague pastor of the 
Congregational Church at Northampton, Mass.; and then 
until his death, — twenty- two years, — of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church of Brooklyn, N. Y. He stood well toward 
the head of the ministry of his day ; and in some respects, 
as, for example, in dealing with inquirers, he was peer- 
less. This appears in his two series of "Pastor's 
Sketches," which have been published in England and 
translated into French. He was called to leading pulpits 
in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and other 
cities, and to the presidency of Hamilton College, and of 
the University of Alabama. He was one of the founders, 
and for thirteen years a director of Union Seminary. 

Stealey Bates Rossiter, of the class of 1865, was born 
at Berne, Albany County, N. Y., and prepared for college 
at Kinderhook. He studied theology at Union Semin- 
ary, New York city. After four years' pastorate over 
the First Congregational Church of Elizabeth, N. J., he 
was called to the North Presbyterian Church of New 
York city, which he has served with great ability and 
success for twenty-two years, and where he still remains 
— and we all know why since we heard him last night. 

But desirable and influential as are long pastorates, 
briefer ones sometimes indicate that high order of talent 
for which many churches compete, and which leads to 
more frequent changes. Phineas Dinsmore Grurley, of 
the class of 1837, was graduated here with the highest 
honors, and was known at Princeton Seminary for his 
high stand as scholar, gentleman, and Christian. He was 
for eleven years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church 
of Indianapolis ; for four years of the First Presbyterian 
26 



402 UNION COLLEGE. 

Church at Dayton, 0., and for fourteen years of the New 
York Avenue Presbyterian Church of Washington, D. C, 
where he was the trusted friend and counsellor of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. Charles Wadsworth, of the same class 
(1837), in a period of forty years, was pastor of a church 
in Troy, N. Y., of another at San Francisco, and of four 
churches in Philadelphia. He was one of the most bril- 
liant preachers of his day, and always had crowded audi- 
ences. He was poet as well as orator. A noble presence, 
a melodious voice, an inexhaustible imagination, and in- 
tense earnestness, made his eloquence irresistible. Nel- 
son Millard, of the class of 1853, was four years a tutor 
here; studied theology at Princeton and Union and in 
Europe, and has been pastor at Montclair, N. J. ; at Chi- 
cago ; Peekskill, N. Y. ; Syracuse ; Norwich, Conn., and 
Rochester, N. Y., where he is at present. In all these 
commanding pulpits he has been noted for clear and pro- 
found thinking, for breadth of view, and for vigor and 
effectiveness of speech. George Alexander, of the class 
of 1866, was pastor for fourteen years of the East Avenue 
Presbyterian Church of Schenectady, raising it from in- 
fancy to a vigorous maturity, doing a truly missionary 
and apostolic work, meanwhile filling a professorship in 
the college. For eleven years he has been pastor of the 
University Place Church in New York city, where he is 
universally recognized as one of the ablest preachers and 
wisest counsellors of the metropolis. Since 1884 he has 
been a director of Princeton Seminary, of which he is an 
alumnus. Thomas McCaulej^, of the class of 1804, was 
tutor and professor here for eighteen years; pastor in 
New York, Philadelphia, and again in New York ; a 
founder of Union Seminary, and for three years one of 
its professors. He had genuine Irish wit and pathos, and 
was one of the few Scotch-Irish ministers to join the 
New School Church at the division in 1837. George 
Smith Boardman, of the class of 1816, studied theology 



ADDRESS. 403 

at Princeton; was an itinerant missionary in Ohio and 
Kentucky, then the "Far West"; was pastor at Water- 
town, Rochester, Rome, Cherry Valley, Cazenovia, Og- 
densburg, and Little Falls. He was known through all 
central and western New York as an able preacher and 
a faithful pastor. Abiel Sherwood, of the class of 1817, 
studied theology at Andover, and spent his ministerial 
life in the South and West. He was eminent as a moving 
and convincing preacher. A revival began in his church 
at Eatonton, Ky., in 1827, that spread over the entire 
State. He was a prolific writer, and his later years were 
devoted to teaching. Abraham Brooks Van Zandt, of the 
class of 1840, studied theology at Princeton, and was pas- 
tor at Newbury, N. Y., Petersburg, Va., and in New York 
city. He was also for nine years professor in the semin- 
ary at New Brunswick. He was an eloquent preacher, 
and the foremost scholar of his day in his denomination. 
Dwight Kellogg Bartlett, of the class of 1854, studied 
theology at Princeton, and was pastor at Stamford, Conn., 
and at Rochester and Albany, N. Y. He was a man of 
strong, vigorous intellect, and of the highest character. 
Gideon Parsons Nicols, of the class of 1860, studied the- 
ology at Princeton, was ten years pastor of the Immanuel 
Presbyterian Church of Milwaukee, Wis., and has now 
been fourteen years over the First Presbyterian Church 
at Bingham ton, N. Y., a model preacher and pastor. John 
Jermain Porter, of the class of 1843, studied theology at 
Princeton, and has been an efficient minister at Kingston, 
Pa.; Buffalo, St. Louis, and Watertown, N. Y., in the last- 
named place seventeen years. William Willet Harsha, of 
the class of 1843, has been pastor at G-alena, Hanover, 
Dixon, Chicago, and Jacksonville, 111., and at Tecumseh, 
Neb., and is now professor of theology in the Omaha 
Seminary. 

The simple mention of these twenty-five names is suf- 
ficient to show how wide-spread has been the influence 



404 UNION COLLEGE. 

of our clerical alumni in the pastorate. From North to 
South, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, they have 
filled leading pulpits in all the great cities, and no min- 
isters have surpassed them in intelligence, wisdom, zeal, 
fidelity, scholarship, eloquence, and practical efficiency. 
But there are 1240, unnamed in this paper, who have 
labored in towns and villages and rural parishes, with as 
unsparing self-denial and as painstaking fidelity as the 
most brilliant man in all the list. And their work has 
been as valuable to men, and as honoring to Grod, in their 
humbler sphere. Would that I could hold before you 
every name and every life for your reverent admiration ! 
I must mention just one more who has been thus far 
a pastor at Paterson and Plainfield, N. J., and at Albany, 
N. Y., whose future I will not venture to predict farther 
than to say that it will certainly be vigorous, faithful, 
and successful ; a member of the class of 1875 ; our hon- 
ored and beloved President, Andrew Van Vranken Ray- 
mond. Under his masterful leadership, we believe Union 
College is to renew not her youth only, for that was a 
period of weakness ; but the best conditions of her prime. 
As it was the personal influence of Dr. Nott that sent so 
large a proportion of our alumni into the Christian min- 
istry, so we hope it will be the high character, charming 
personality, and warm piety of Dr. Raymond that will 
again bring this profession to the front in the estimation 
of Union's students. The ministry is no longer, indeed, 
the one learned profession. It commands less ex-officio 
notice than a hundred, or even fifty, years ago. Clergy- 
men to-day, like other men, must stand or fall on their 
merits or demerits. But now, as always, no other calling 
touches human life at so many vital points, or ministers 
to such crying and irrepressible needs of man. While 
the consciousness of sin remains a part of our thinking, 
while we fear death and the unknown future, while the 
hope of immortality rises in our hearts and cries out for 



ADDBESS. 405 

a reassuring word of promise, while social and civic 
evils demand reform, while so large a portion of our 
race sit in darkness and the shadow of death, the Chris- 
tian ministry must ever stand, where it has always stood, 
in the forefront of the forces that make for righteousness 
and happiness. The newspaper cannot do the work of 
the living voice, nor the book bring the comfort in sick- 
ness, sorrow, and death of the living person. Man must 
meet man face to face in all the supreme matters of sin 
and salvation. And this service — for it is only in the 
most superficial sense a profession — appeals to all that 
is most chivalrous and heroic in young manhood. The 
call is not to riches, or reputation, or alluring honors, 
but to service for men and for God. It may mean pov- 
erty, obscurity, life-long hardships ; but it carries its own 
daily and sufficient reward. For this service we covet 
the best of Union's sons. We glory in the men that have 
made her name famous in business, medicine, law, poli- 
tics, statesmanship. It has stirred our hearts most pro- 
foundly to hear the stories of their deeds. But we believe 
that in no department of activity has Union College more 
honored herself and blessed the world than in the Chris- 
tian ministry. And we long to see this brilliant and 
beneficent past more than reproduced in the years to 
come. The ministry more than ever demands the widest 
and deepest culture ; the best graces of speech ; the clear- 
est and strongest thinking; and above all that practical 
grasp of the problems of life that has always been the 
crown of Union's training. May the brightest and best 
young men of our beloved land seek their education here; 
and may the brightest of the brightest, and the best of 
the best, enter the Christian Ministry. 



26* 



ADDRESS 

BY JOHN VAN RENSSELAER HOFF, A. M., M. D., 

Of the Class of 1871. 
UNION COLLEGE IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. 

MR. CHAIRMAN, Ladies and Gentlemen : Wrote a 
late distinguished medical teacher, "When Boer- 
haave, the most accomplished and celebrated physician 
of the eighteenth century, died, he left behind him an 
elegant volume, the title-page of which declared that it 
contained all the secrets of medicine. On opening the 
volume every page except one was blank; on that one 
was written : ' Keep the head cool, the feet warm, and the 
bowels open.' This legacy of Boerhaave to suffering 
humanity typified, not inaptly or unjustly, the acquire- 
ments of medical art at the close of the last century." 
Let us not forget, however, that substantial advances in 
our knowledge of the human body, its form, functions, 
and material had been made ; much was known that more 
ancient philosophy had not dreamed of, but at the dawn 
of the nineteenth century, it has been said, " the vast ma- 
jority of practitioners, slaves of a routine which author- 
ity had sanctioned, were guided solely by empiricism." 

The Declaration of Independence made by our fathers, 
and the epidemic of war which followed it, and which 
for an entire generation possessed the earth, in changing 
the political and social relations of the nations and peo- 



ADDEESS. 407 

pies, gave an immense impetus to science; so it is not 
extravagant to assert "that in all this turmoil, change, 
and progress, medicine has kept abreast of the other 
natural sciences, of politics and of theology, and made 
equal conquests over authority, error, and tradition." 

It was during this period of intense activity, mental 
and physical, and but twenty years after Lexington, 
where 

. . . the embattled farmers stood 
And fired the shot heard round the world, 

that Union College was founded. Even then the last 
British soldier had not yet left the soil of the new-born 
republic, and the now independent States were just be- 
ginning to rise, Antseus-like, with renewed strength to 
the gigantic task of developing the land. 

It is most surprising that at the very beginning of 
this era of development, when, from the conditions of 
the situation, the material things, the bare necessaries 
of life, demanded the first thought, founders could have 
found time to consider and appreciate the supreme value 
of education to the perpetuity of their new-born nation. 
" We had become a people of one heart and one mind, 
of equal rights and like obligations. The responsibili- 
ties the change imposed were not long in being felt. A 
form of government won by the valor and founded on 
the sovereignty of the people could only be perpetuated 
by the preservation of popular virtue and the spread of 
popular intelligence. The first thought, therefore, of our 
statesmen was the promotion of public education." ! 

The founding of Union College, and the establishment 
of the public-school system in our State, which occurred 
almost simultaneously, were among the first evidences 
that the impetus given to science by the turmoil and 
confusion of war was having its effect here. Before this 

1 Hon. Isaiah Towiisend, Class of '31. 



408 UNION COLLEGE. 

we had no scientists, for the actualities of life occupied 
our people and had to be met each day as they arose. 
There was little time for study and less for research. 
We " inherited the traditions, the superstitions, the theo- 
ries, the authority, and the empirical results of Europe," 
but their sifting for the grain of truth remained for a 
later day. Particularly was this so of the science of medi- 
cine, whose followers were compelled to devote themselves 
wholly and solely to the care of the sick. There was then 
no overcrowding of the profession, and no time or place 
for physicians as original investigators and natural phil- 
osophers. 

The influence of our college upon the medical profes- 
sion, so far as it is tangible and to be measured, must be 
sought for in the history of the lives of her graduates. 
No one can hope on an occasion like this to enumerate 
all who have striven manfully in their calling, many of 
whom, after lives full of devotion to humanity, have 
departed, leaving only a tradition ; while others have 
written their names high in the temple of science. Yet 
whether they be known to fame, or remembered only in 
the prayers of the lowly but grateful, we feel sure that 
all have sustained the good name of our alma mater. 

The first graduate of Union College to receive the de- 
gree in medicine was John Nash Smith, class of 1798, of 
whom, unfortunately, the records at my command tell 
nothing save that he paid his debt to nature in 1829, 
having proved, let us hope, by thirty years' devotion to 
his profession, as he certainly did in leaving it, that 

By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death will seize 
the doctor too. 

Following him came Bancker, Cleveland, Hasbrouck, 
Forman, and others. It was not, however, till 1807 that 
there appeared on the roll of Union's graduates the name 



ADDEESS. 409 

of one who so deeply impressed his generation as to force 
recognition and cause his memory to be revered for half 
a hundred years. 

Theodric Romeyn Beck was born in this city [Sche- 
nectady] four years before our college — of which he be- 
came one of the most distinguished graduates — was 
founded. Of English descent on his father's side, his 
blood was well tinctured with the Dutch, his maternal 
grandfather being the Rev. Dirck Romeyn, D. D., some- 
time pastor of the First Reformed Church here, and one 
of the most active promoters of Union College. Gradu- 
ating at the age of sixteen, he immediately entered upon 
the study of medicine in Albany, and thereafter in New 
York, under the distinguished Dr. David Hosack. Re- 
ceiving his degree in 1811 from the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, Dr. Beck at once commenced to practise 
his profession in Albany, which city thereafter remained 
his home. In 1814 he visited Europe, and upon his return 
the next year was appointed professor of the institutes 
of medicine and lecturer on medical jurisprudence in the 
Fairfield Medical School. Two years later, having been 
elected principal of the Albany Academy, he relinquished 
the active practice of medicine and devoted himself to 
its teaching. It must not, however, be understood that 
he had lost interest in the profession of his choice. Far 
from it, he gave many of his best years to the investiga- 
tion and exposition of the science of medicine in some of 
its most important departments. In 1829, Dr. Beck was 
elected president of the Medical Society of the State of 
New York and remained its presiding officer for three 
years. It was said of him that while president of this 
association " his suggestions were constantly such as 
might become a physician, a philanthropist, and a states- 
man ; that they were not Utopian is proved by the fact 
that very many of them have been adopted as measures 
of State policy and general hygiene." 



410 UNION COLLEGE. 

Dr. Beck continued his professional duties at the Fair- 
field Medical School until it closed in 1840, when he was 
elected a professor in the Albany Medical College and re- 
mained such until, in 1854, his declining health, and the 
increasing demands upon his time, forced him to close 
his active career of nearly forty years as a teacher of 
medicine, but not his connection with the profession, for 
he remained professor emeritus until the day of his death. 

The crowning labor of Dr. Beck's life, and that which 
has made his name illustrious in the world of letters, is 
his work on medical jurisprudence. Published in our 
country in 1823, it at once attracted the attention of the 
world, was republished in London two years later, and 
shortly thereafter was translated and published in Ger- 
many. This remarkable work passed through ten edi- 
tions in the English language during its author's life, and 
yet others since his death, and to-day — after seventy 
years — it still remains the standard. Truly of this great 
teacher and honored son of Union it may be said that 
in his death, which occurred in 1855, the wodd lost " one 
of the most devoted, indefatigable, and earnest promoters 
of medical science." 

During the first generation of the existence of the college 
we find the names of many graduates who in the profes- 
sion of their choice doubtless made a deep and lasting 
impress. They were the silent workers content to minister 
to the sick, to alleviate individual suffering, but of whose 
influence in the communities in which they settled we 
find little or no record, and of whose writings, alas, no- 
thing. They were men of deeds, not words. Others there 
were, of perhaps no larger mould or greater influence, 
who, having left behind them written evidence of their 
work, appear to us as something more than a name. 

Two other Becks, John B. and Louis C, followed their 
elder and greater brother in later classes, and his ex- 
ample, in becoming distinguished teachers of medicine, 



ADDKESS. 411 

the former holding a chair in the College of Physicians 
and Surgeons, New York, and the latter in Rutgers. 
Then followed Lansing, Benedict, Mosier, Bogert, Mur- 
doch, Blatchford, Gransevoort, Verplanck, Willard, Living- 
ston, Fitch, and a host of others who are but names. The 
first graduate recorded as having entered the public medi- 
cal service was Codwise, of the class of 1822, who became 
a Medical Director in the Navy. Others, however, whose 
names are unknown to the speaker, probably took part 
in the War of 1812. 

Drake, of 1823, followed the star of empire and became 
a professor in Wesleyan and the Ohio universities. Your 
own Duane, who exerted so large a measure of in- 
fluence in this community ; Lauderdale, Bayard, and 
then Thomas Hun of 1826, that Nestor in medicine, who 
settled in his native city, and to-day, nearly seventy years 
since he received the stamp of approval of this institu- 
tion, lives honored as one of the most distinguished 
physicians and respected citizens of Albany. Following 
them Thorne, Horton, Kissam, Winne, Bloodgood, and 
finally, at the beginning of the second generation, the 
name of Hamilton appears. 

Just as Dr. Beck's great work was receiving the hom- 
age of the world, a youth was about to graduate from 
Union College whose influence upon the profession of 
medicine was to be almost as far-reaching as that of his 
distinguished elder. 

Frank Hastings Hamilton graduated in the class of 
'30, and received his degree in medicine from the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania in 1835. He added to an in- 
tense love of his profession the enthusiasm of a teacher 
of surgery, and hand in hand throughout his eventful 
life went precept and practice. Almost immediately after 
entering the profession Dr. Hamilton settled in Auburn, 
N. Y., and inaugurated a course of lectures in anatomy 
and surgery, which he successfully continued for three 



412 UNION COLLEGE. 

years until (in 1839) appointed professor of surgery in 
the Fairfield Medical College. 

Upon the abandonment of this school Professor Hamil- 
ton accepted a chair in the medical college at Geneva, 
N. Y., and in 1846 went to the Buffalo Medical School, 
becoming at the same time surgeon to the Charity Hos- 
pital. It was during his residence in Buffalo that he had 
opportunity to gain the practical experience in his spe- 
ciality of surgery, which he afterward added to so abun- 
dantly that its record is stored in many volumes, and it 
was there he impressed himself so deeply upon the pro- 
fession, in its formative period, that his influence as 
teacher and author will be felt so long as his name (and 
that of his great colleague Flint) shall remain dgep graven 
in the walls of the school he made famous. 

In 1859 Professor Hamilton accepted the chair of prin- 
ciples and practice of surgery in the Long Island Medical 
College, and in 1861 was appointed professor of military 
surgery, a chair which at that time existed in no other 
medical school in the United States, and which, I might 
add, exists in no medical school in our broad land to-day. 
Think of it, ye who are training your children to be sol- 
diers against the evil day which will surely come, what 
training are your physicians receiving to enable them to 
meet the same contingency ? None, absolutely none. 

At the call to arms in 1861, Frank Hamilton went to 
the front to learn, by actual experience, in what military 
surgery differed from other surgerjr. How well he learned 
the lesson is recorded in his treatise on this subject which 
appeared in 1865 — a work that all members of the pro- 
fession might read with profit, even though military 
sanitation, keeping step with other specialties in our pro- 
fession, has advanced far beyond the point where our 
great war left it. 

Colonel Hamilton, after having distinguished himself 
in all the positions he was called upon to fill, resigned as 



ADDEESS. 413 

Medical Inspector in 1863, to accept the chair of military 
surgery in Bellevue Hospital Medical College, such pro- 
fessorships being then fashionable. 

When war is rife, and danger 's nigh, 

" God and the soldier ! " is the people's cry. 

In 1868, Professor Hamilton took the chair of Principles 
and Practice of Surgery, for — 

When war is past, and all things righted, 
G-od 's forgot, and the soldier slighted. 

and so is military sanitation in the schools. He retained 
this office^intil his death. Dr. Hamilton had a very wide 
professional connection ; he was surgeon and consultant to 
many hospitals, and his advice and assistance were sought 
by sufferers from all parts of the world. The demands 
upon his time were unceasing, and yet his contributions 
to the literature of his profession were many and valuable, 
and received merited recognition beyond the shores of our 
own land. August 11, 1886, his work was done, and he 
rested from his labors as surgeon, teacher, author, soldier. 

Who can measure the influence of our alma mater 
upon the medical profession exerted through fifty years 
of Frank Hamilton's example and teaching! Truly it 
may be said of him, as he said of his friend and elder, 
Beck, " One asks how has any man been able to accom- 
plish so much? By system, perseverance, devotion and 
honesty of purpose, united to excellent talents." 

Running on down the roster we see the name of Chal- 
mers, 1831, a physician of reputation and influence, one 
of the founders of the New York Academy of Medicine ; 
of John McClelland, 1832, whose munificent gift of $25,- 
000 to his alma mater is an example not too often fol- 
lowed by her children ; of his classmate, West, who, de- 
voting himself to the gentler sex, became the father of 



414 UNION COLLEGE. 

its higher education in our country and, indeed, in the 
world. Then Mitchell, 1833, founder of the Brooklyn 
Dispensary and Long Island Medical College ; and an- 
other of that class, Vedder, so many years a distinguished 
resident of this city. 

Alexander M. Vedder was born in Schenectady, and 
his entire life was spent here, except while in attendance 
at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institu- 
tion he received his degree in medicine in 1839. He held 
the chair of anatomy and physiology in Union College 
for seventeen years, until ever increasing demands upon 
his time compelled his resignation. Dr. Vedder filled a 
large place as a physician, scientist, and man of affairs, 
and his influence was far-reaching. , 

Bockee, 1836, long in the public service; Hyslop, of 
the same date, a conspicuous practitioner in New York ; 
Cary, 1839, of Buffalo ; Martin, 1840, a surgeon in the 
Navy; Thayer of the Boston University, and your own 
Van Ingen, whose discovery that by simply elevating 
the foot of the bed sufficient counter-extension would be 
afforded to a fractured thigh has brought comfort to un- 
numbered thousands, and written his name among the 
immortals; Franklin B. Hough, 1843, who devoted him- 
self to scientific and historical studies, and was a volum- 
inous writer upon these subjects. 

Howard Townsend, 1844, was a scion of a family dis- 
tinguished in the history of this State from the earliest 
times. After receiving his degree in medicine from the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1847, Dr. Townsend studied 
his profession in the schools of Europe, and on his return 
to his native city, Albany, in 1852, was appointed to a 
chair in the Medical College there. In this school he re- 
mained an honored teacher until his too early death. Dr. 
Hun, his friend and preceptor, said of him : " The influ- 
ence which Dr. Townsend exerted over his pupils ought 
not to pass without remark. It was a striking charac- 



ADDRESS. 415 

teristic of his teaching to impress upon the students the 
importance of just and generous conduct in their rela- 
tions to each other and to their patients, and to give 
them a high notion of the dignity of their profession." 
His deep sense of loyalty, his devotion to his calling, and 
his appreciation of the duties and obligations of a phy- 
sician, made his example one that all well might strive 
to emulate. 

Then Campbell, 1845, and his classmates, John A.Liddell 
— who distinguished himself as a medical officer during 
the War of Secession, and whose writings are prolific and 
valuable — and Mackie, one of the first with us to take an 
active part in advancing State medicine; he was ap- 
pointed a special United States Commissioner, Marine 
Hospital Service to the west coast of South America, and 
filled other important offices. Field, 1846, a professor in 
the medical school at Geneva; J. Foster Jenkins, gen- 
eral secretary of the United States Sanitary Commis- 
sion; James D. Jones of Schenectady; Churchill, 1848, a 
conspicuous practitioner in Utica ; Barent A. Mynderse, 
1849 ; Van Olinda of Albany, devoted to the suffering 
poor ; Martindale, 1850, a medical officer during the war, 
and subsequently a member of the Board of Health, New 
York city; and then, when the century was half-spent, 
Loomis. 

Let us stop for a moment about this semi-centennial 
period of the college's existence and glance backward. 
The population of our country had then grown to twenty 
millions, and her extreme western frontier was marked 
by the line of the Missouri River; as a people we had made 
substantial progress, as a profession we were advancing, 
pari passu with the other sciences and arts, toward the 
light. 

The history of any profession in connection with the 
progress and growth of a new country is of the utmost 
interest, aud particularly is this so with medicine. In 



416 UNION COLLEGE. 

the older countries certain social limitations have hereto- 
fore surrounded this profession, but " in new lands peo- 
pled by the self-selection of the fittest, by those who have 
the courage of enterprise and the mental and moral out- 
fit to win for it success, the physician is sure to take and 
keep the highest places." 1 This was essentially the case 
with the three hundred graduates of old Union who had 
then become followers of the healing art. Scattered 
throughout the length and breadth of the land, through 
them the mental discipline of our alma mater was being 
impressed upon every important community. 

But her training and influence had done more than 
merely improve the personal status of the physician. It 
had, in connection with other like institutions of learning, 
created a demand for a higher medical education, which 
was even then beginning to be met. In the early colonial 
days there were no medical schools or libraries, and stu- 
dents received their professional training by the precept 
and by the example of practitioners to whom they were ap- 
prenticed. Then medical schools were founded to supple- 
ment this teaching, and, as the demands upon them grew, 
these schools were multiplied, their facilities increased, 
and clinical instruction in hospitals was introduced. 

It was at this propitious period, when physicists, weary 
of the discussion of mere doctrines and dogmata, were 
turning to a study of facts, that there graduated from 
these halls a youth who was destined to become one of 
the most distinguished physicians of the nineteenth 
century. 

Alfred Lebbins Loomis received his bachelor's degree 
from Union College in 1851, at the age of twenty years, 
and his doctorate from the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, New York, in 1853. After two years of prac- 
tical work as house physician in the public hospitals of 
New York, he began practice in that city, devoting him- 

iDr. S. Weir Mitchell, "Medical News," Philadelphia, January 8, 1887. 



ADDEESS. 417 

self particularly to diseases of the chest, in which specialty 
he soon achieved a national reputation. 

His work as a teacher began in 1862, when he was ap- 
pointed lecturer on physical diagnosis in the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons, New York. Continuing in this 
office until 1865, he then accepted the adjunct professorship 
of theory and practice of medicine, in the University of 
New York. Two years thereafter he became professor of 
pathology and practice of medicine in that institution, 
and continued to fill this chair with profit to his pupils, 
distinction to his school, and honor to his profession un- 
til his death. 

Dr. Loomis was essentially a practitioner and teacher 
of medicine, and his ambition to excel in the profession 
of his choice led him to devote to it every energy of mens 
sana in corpore sano. He believed the field of medicine all 
too large for any one man to cultivate, strive he ever so 
diligently, and therefore his fame was gained within its 
limits. Let it not be presumed for a moment that Alfred 
Loomis was narrow-minded ; far from it, his sagacity as a 
man of affairs was recognized by all who knew him, and 
was well shown in the upbuilding of the new University 
Medical School, in the organization of the Loomis Lab- 
oratory, an institution for the practical instruction of 
medical students in chemistry, materia medica, pathol- 
ogy, bacteriology, etc, — a worthy monument to a great 
physician, — and the construction of the new building of 
the Academy of Medicine. His ability as a writer is 
proved by the popularity of his works, among which may 
be mentioned, "Lessons in Physical Diagnosis," "Diseases 
of the Respiratory Organs, Heart, and Kidneys," " Text- 
book of Practical Medicine," etc., etc., several of which 
went through many editions ; and his talent as an or- 
ganizer was felt in the numerous medical societies of 
which he was a member. 

Professor Loomis died on the morning of January 23, 
27 



418 UNION COLLEGE. 

1895, and on that day we may fitly close the hundredth 
year of Union College in the medical profession. But 
his influence is not dead. Following the advice of his 
great teacher Dr. Nott, whose very words he might have 
heard uttered on the occasion of the semi-centennial of 
our college, " he endeavored to impart to other minds 
high purposes, to be by them again imparted, that thus 
this institution, in which he was educated, might become 
the source and center of an influence which shall con- 
tinue to extend itself until it reaches the extremities of 
the world." 

Levi C. Lane, of the same class, went to the Pacific 
Coast in the early days, and soon became one of the most 
prominent medical practitioners there. He has devoted 
the large wealth following successful practice to the 
upbuilding of a great medical school in San Francisco, 
and his wide-reaching influence will long be felt in the 
profession in that important section of our country. Yet 
another classmate was Fessenden N. Otis, long time a 
professor in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
New York — a most distinguished trio. 

Still further down the roster we see other names, 
those of men of a younger generation, even now rapidly 
passing, who are carrying forward the good work, and 
ever more widely impressing upon our people the in- 
fluences which emanate from this ancient center of learn- 
ing — Calkins, 1853, a professor in the medical school at 
Burlington, Vermont; Rodman, his classmate, professor 
of anatomy in the Wisconsin College; Valentine, 1854, 
of St. Louis; Hadden, 1856, of New York; Rhodes, of 
the navy, and yet another of the navy, whose distin- 
guished services and commanding position make him 
conspicuous among the sons of Union. 

James Rufus Tryon graduated in the class of 1858 ; after 
receiving his degree of medicine from the University of 
Pennsylvania (1861) he went to Europe, and while study- 



ADDEESS. 419 

ing there heard the call to arms. Returning home, he 
entered the medical department of the navy, in which he 
rendered gallant and valuable services during the War of 
Secession. Continuing in the service, the excellence of 
his work under all conditions of duty, afloat and ashore, 
for thirty years was so marked that in 1893 he was se- 
lected from among a number of distinguished medical 
officers of the navy to be the chief of his department. 
General Tryon, through his enviable record as a med- 
ical officer and the good professional work done by him 
in all parts of the world, has made the influence of his 
college very widely felt. 

Wilkerson, of the same class, devoted himself to the care 
and instruction of the deaf and dumb, and is now conspicu- 
ous as principal of the institution at Berkeley, California. 
Andrew H. Smith, another classmate, has acquired a wide 
reputation as a teacher and practitioner of medicine. 
Grille tt, 1861 ; Wilcox, of the army, sometime instructor 
in chemistry and physiology here ; Baker, Styer, Young, 
1862 ; Frothingham, 1863 ; Crary, 1864 ; Clyde, and many 
others who fought to maintain the Union ; Stimson, 1864, 
distinguished as a physician and teacher, and conspicuous 
as a military sanitarian, devoted to his patients and pro- 
fession, truly it may be said that he doeth honor to the 
alma mater that nurtured him. The Featherstonhaughs, 
1867-71 ; Pearson, 1868 ; Leonard, 1872, a professor in 
the Detroit Medical College; the Whitehorns, 1873-75; 
Quimby, 1876 ; Culver, 1878 ; Craig, 1880, and a host of 
others, young and old, are all carrying forward the noble 
work, and spreading abroad among the people the name 
and fame of these classic halls. 

Again glancing backward, this time upon the com- 
pleted hundred years of Union College, we find that the 
population of our country has grown to number nearly 
seventy millions, and that the whole breadth of the con- 
tinent is occupied by teeming cities, fruitful farms, and 



420 UNION COLLEGE. 

thriving manufactories, and we also find that in every 
department of human knowledge there has been an ad- 
vance greater, more momentous, and more permanent 
than in any century the history of which is written. 

In this advance medicine has bountifully shared; in- 
deed, it may be truly said that a new science has arisen, 
and more progress has been made in this art, during the 
nineteenth century than in all time before. In this mar- 
velous progress Union has taken no unimportant part, 
not alone through her illustrious sons, but even more, if 
possible, through the hundreds of silent ones who have 
done their duty simply and in private, " and in their pa- 
tient, charitable lives" have exerted an irresistible influ- 
ence in advancing their chosen profession. 

Of thy sons, Alma Mater, like the Roman matron 
you may proudly say, " These are my jewels." 



£>cmi^cntenniai of t^c engineering £cf)ooL 

President Cady Staley, of the Case School of 
Applied Science, Presiding. 



T 



OPENING ADDRESS 

BY PRESIDENT STALEY, 

Of the Class of 1866. 

IT is eminently fitting at this Centennial Celebration of 
Union College, that some special note should be made 
of scientific education. Union College was one of the 
very first of the classical colleges to introduce scientific 
education in its curriculum. The introduction of science 
into the higher educational institutions was a very slow 
process. For centuries all the schools were in the hands 
of the churchmen, and they were very loath to have 
science introduced as a regular study in the schools. 
"When Roger Bacon began his experiments in physics 
and chemistry, many of his colleagues suggested that he 
was tampering with evil spirits ; and when he showed 
them the properties of a combination of sulphur, charcoal, 
and saltpeter, which we call gunpowder, they were sure 
he was in league with the devil. They invoked the power 
of the church ; and Roger Bacon was imprisoned for dar- 
27* 421 



422 UNION COLLEGE. 

ing, as they said, to attempt to find out what God had 
meant to keep secret. The church was opposed to science, 
and until the present century very little was done in the 
line of science in institutions of higher education. One 
of the very first of these institutions to introduce science 
into their curricula was Union College. More and more 
attention was given to different branches of science, but 
the first complete department to be organized was that 
of civil engineering. In 1845, William Mitchell Gillespie 
was called to the professorship of civil engineering in 
this college, and the department was fully equipped and 
started. Professor Gillespie was particularly well trained 
for this work. First, he was a college graduate; then 
he went to Paris and studied in L'Ecole des Ponts et 
Chaussees, one of the best scientific schools in the world. 
He returned to this country and had considerable prac- 
tice in railroad engineering and other branches of engin- 
eering before he came here to teach. He was, perhaps, 
one of the best-equipped men in that line in the United 
States. In his teaching he gave equal emphasis to the 
theoretical and the practical sides of his subject. He 
was not content, as many are, to teach only the practical. 
He was not satisfied with what is sometimes called the 
" near-enough-f or-practical-use " methods. His students 
soon learned that precision and accuracy alone would be 
approved. And yet there was one student who once 
ventured to try the other method with the professor. 
This student, whom we will call Mr. M., was given to 
vigils not altogether of a studious sort. The class met 
the first hour in the morning, and this morning M. was 
there, not because he had risen with the lark, but be- 
cause he had been out on a " lark " all night. He went 
in with the class and seated himself in the front row. 

The subject under discussion at that time was the 
application of geometry to the division of lands, and 
the professor was showing the practical applications of 



ADDEESS. 423 

geometrical problems. Drawing a circle on the board, 
lie said: "Now we will conceive this to be a circular 
piece of ground, and I will ask one of you to find the 
center." Then he called upon Mr. M., of whom I have 
spoken. M. rose with great dignity, hesitated a moment, 
then walked carefully to the board, and with an air of 
confident conviction put his finger as near as he could 
guess upon the center of the circle and said, " Professor, 
I don't want to be rash about it, but I think the center 
is right about there." Those who knew Professor Gilles- 
pie (and several of you did know him) remember that he 
was not much given to joking in the class-room, but the 
joke on this occasion was too good to be resisted. By 
the way, those who think the professor did not enjoy a 
good joke are greatly mistaken. I remember very well 
of his telling me with great glee of a little incident that 
happened shortly after he began housekeeping in the 
block on the corner of Quackenbush and Union streets. 
During the first years of his professorship he was a 
bachelor and had bachelor's quarters in that block, hav- 
ing his own front door on the street. When he married 
he took the rest of the house, and still kept his separate 
door. The kitchen was a small wooden building on the 
lower end of the block, which also had a door on the 
street. One day, when he had gone into the kitchen to 
give some directions to his servants, the kitchen door- 
bell rang. A servant went to the door and found a man 
there with something to sell, who began to talk about his 
wares. Gillespie stepped to the door, sent the peddler 
about his business, and then started towards his study. 
When he got to the foot of his private staircase, hearing 
a knock he opened the door, and there stood the same 
man. Gillespie told him again to go about his business, 
and the man backed out and started up the street. 
Gillespie, thinking the man might go to the next door, also 
his own, walked around and reached there, just as the 



424 UNION COLLEGE. 

door-bell rang. Gillespie opened this third door, and be- 
fore him stood the same peddler he had already twice 
dismissed. The man started back aghast, but found 
courage in a moment to say timidly : " Will you kindly 
tell me how far up this street you live?" (Laughter.) 
I admit that Professor Gillespie was not much given to 
joking in his class-room, but he could enjoy a good joke 
when it came his way as heartily as most men. 

Professor Gillespie managed the department for twen- 
ty-two years, until 1867, when I succeeded him. When 
I speak of succeeding Gillespie, I am reminded of a little 
anecdote that Oliver Wendell Holmes used to tell. One 
time Rufus Choate had an engagement to deliver a lec- 
ture, and being unable to keep the engagement, he ar- 
ranged that Holmes should go in his place. Holmes met 
some friends on the street, who said to him, " Ah, Holmes, 
you are going to fill Choate's place, are you ? " " Fill 
Choate's place ! " said Holmes. " No, sir ; I am going to 
rattle around in it." Now, I rattled around in Professor 
Gillespie's place for nineteen years. After I left, Professor 
Brown succeeded me, and was here eight years. For the 
last year, one of my old students, Professor Landreth, 
has been in charge of the department, and Professor 
Landreth's reputation while at Vanderbilt University is 
a guarantee of his success here at Union. 

But I am not here to make a speech. I did not know 
that I was to look into your faces until I came here and 
saw my name on the programme ; but I lived so long at 
Union College and got so used to obeying orders, that 
when the orders came to appear here I obeyed them. 

You expected to listen to General Stone at this time 
and place, but I have been handed a letter from General 
Stone saying that he cannot be present. I will read the 
letter : 

The pressure of public duties deprives me of the pleasure of 
being with you at the Centenuial gathering of the Sons of Union ; 



ADDEESS. 425 

but I cannot forego the opportunity of sending a word of 
friendly greeting, if you will kindly convey it to the men of my 
day who may be present, and a word of encouragement to the 
younger men who in the closing days of the century follow your 
footsteps in the great science of construction, as we followed 
those of our master, Gillespie, in its middle years. It was to us 
a matter of pride that Union College was the first of the great 
educational institutions to inaugurate thorough scientific educa- 
tion in engineering, and that our great preceptor is still regarded 
as high authority, both as to precept and practice, in the science 
to which so many great technical institutions are now devoted. 
The men who have seen engineering grow to what it is have no 
reason to doubt the greatness of its future ; and the young men 
who are now entering the profession need have no fear of being 
too late. The engineer is the knight errant of modern adven- 
ture ; armed with all the forces of nature and panoplied with 
all the arts, he boldly challenges every physical barrier to human 
progress ; and the greater success he achieves, the wider are the 
opportunities offered to his skill and courage. The heights we 
reach to-day are the vantage-ground for a new advance to- 
morrow. Just as the country is filled with railroads, and that 
field for engineering disappears, science comes in with new 
means for their operation and all their methods and appliances 
are to be revolutionized. And just as we have determined how 
to build highways in this country for the travel we are accus- 
tomed to, horseless carriages appear, in astonishing number and 
variety, and the science of road-building must be adapted to new 
conditions. Meanwhile, we have already an era of ship-canals 
and great harbor-works, of enormous water-powers and grand 
irrigation projects, of elevated railroads and magnificent bridges, 
of tunnels and underground rapid transit lines ; and in addition 
to all this the prospect of an extensive re-location of manufac- 
turing establishments to meet new conditions in trade and trans- 
portation, and in the generation and transmission of power. 
"With these and all the minor constructive works that will follow 
the restoration of prosperity, and especially with the field opened 
up by the agitation for good roads throughout the country, 
there ought to be abundant work for the young engineer. 

With heartfelt good wishes, and with a God-speed to old 
Union, I am Faithfully yours, 

Roy Stone, of the Class of 1856. 



426 UNION COLLEGE. 

As you have heard so often since you have been at- 
tending this celebration, Union College is famous for the 
men of affairs among its alumni — men of affairs in very 
many directions. It is now my privilege to introduce to 
you, as one of the speakers of the afternoon, one of these 
men of affairs, as well as a statesman, the Honorable 
Warner Miller, who will address us. 



ADDRESS 

BY WARNER MILLER, LL. D. 

Class of 1860. 

THE COLLEGE IN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LIFE. 

MR. CHAIRMAN", Ladies and Gentlemen: The sub- 
ject assigned me by President Raymond is, " The 
College in Commercial and Industrial Life." Why this 
selection was made and why I was assigned to it, I know 
not, save, it may be, that the President, in going over the 
college records of some of the old men, found that my 
record as a classical scholar was the poorest in the class 
of 1860, and therefore, being a poor classical scholar (al- 
though I was considered good enough then to be elected 
professor of Greek and Latin in a collegiate institute as 
soon as I had graduated), undoubtedly President Ray- 
mond thought I must of necessity be a good business 
man, and therefore assigned me to the treatment of this 
subject. The fact is, I am as poor a business man as I 
was a classical scholar. I am only a plain farmer, who 
in these hard times is unable to make both ends meet, 
no matter how much economy he may exercise. This 
afternoon, however, I shall practise an economy which 
you will all approve, for it will be all for your benefit. I 
shall economize your time by making a speech only a 
few moments in length. Some of my good friends of the 
class of 1860 (my own class) and of 1861 have suggested 

427 



428 UNION COLLEGE. 

frequently during the day that they should move, here 
in the audience, that I have leave to print, as they do in 
the House of Representatives, and, not waiting for them 
to make this proposition (for I know who it is coming 
from), I have decided to ask leave to print; and when 
the Centennial book comes out, you will find that my 
speech of fifteen minutes in length will have swollen to 
at least fifty or one hundred pages such as the " Con- 
gressional Record." 

I never before had the privilege of speaking to a clas- 
sical college audience like this in the open air. We were 
always surrounded by sacred walls and their associations. 
But as I stand here to-day it seems to me that our col- 
lege is making very great progress. As I look out upon 
this audience it has every appearance of being a Repub- 
lican audience, and I might, if my speech was not pre- 
pared, — as President Brownell has suggested, — wander 
away from my subject and talk about the tariff, or the 
present administration, and the foreign policy of the 
government of the United States. My friend here in 
front suggests that I might speak upon the Nicaragua 
Canal. That is a familiar subject to myself, but might 
not interest you all. I am determined not to wander 
from the subject assigned to me. I have committed to 
paper substantially what I want to say. 

The subject allotted to me, " The College in Com- 
mercial and Industrial Life," is one seldom discussed 
when the college or university celebrates. 

In the olden times, when education was confined to 
the few, the college was instituted for the purpose of pro- 
ducing doctors of law, doctors of medicine, and doctors 
of divinity. The business man was produced by an ap- 
prenticeship in the counting-house. 

Then the few lived in palaces; the many in hovels. 
The few were clothed in purple and fine linen, and lived 
sumptuously ; the many were clothed in coarse clothes or 



ADDRESS. 429 

skins of animals, and fed on black bread. The few were 
masters; the many slaves. Education was confined to 
the cloister and the court. 

To-day all this is changed ; the palaces still exist ; the 
hovels have disappeared, and in their places are the com- 
fortable homes of the masses. 

In free America on gala days the capitalist and the 
laborer cannot be distinguished by the difference in their 
dress. The food of all classes is gathered from the tem- 
perate, the tropical, and the polar regions ; the depths of 
the sea even are called upon to contribute to the comfort 
and adornment of man. 

Education is no longer held to be so sacred that it 
would be sacrilegious to communicate it to the masses, 
and we have the masses educated now by force of law. 
Finally, government, which was once monopolized by the 
few without regard to their worth, has lost its exclusive- 
ness and become the divine right of the many. 

The college and the university no longer confine them- 
selves to the production of doctors of law, medicine, and 
divinity, but cover every department of human know- 
ledge ; all sciences, art, and literature must find a place in 
their curriculum. 

The young man who can talk Latin and write Greek 
verse has only begun his education, and must add thereto 
an amount of information upon a multitude of subjects 
which would have astonished and dismayed the ancients. 

The number and variety of the subjects of study and 
research to-day are so numerous that no one can hope to 
acquire in a thorough manner more than one or two of 
them. 

The departments of law and medicine, engineering and 
science, are divided into numerous subdivisions, any one 
of which requires for its complete mastery the best efforts 
of the highest order of intellect. 

The college to-day gives the preliminary training for 



430 UNION COLLEGE. 

every calling or profession ; the university with its tech- 
nical schools completes the education and sends the stu- 
dent forth ready to undertake the active work of life. 

Not long ago a most distinguished and successful man 
stated that a college education was not necessary, but in- 
jurious to the young man who was to follow a business 
career ; that it was better he should commence by sweep- 
ing out the office and polishing the door-knob, than waste 
his time in learning Greek verbs and moral philosophy. 
The statement was at once controverted, and an inquiry 
set on foot to determine the truth or falsity of the prop- 
osition. It was shown that a large part of the men 
controlling the commerce, manufacturing, and trans- 
portation of the country were either educated in our 
colleges or in the scientific or technical schools connected 
with our universities. 

Why should it not be so? Is there anything in the 
nature of sweeping office floors and polishing door-knobs 
which would give one an insight into the laws that gov- 
ern trade and finance ? True, one should commence at 
the bottom of his profession or business and learn it in 
detail, but he should bring to his work a well-trained 
mind stored with all information possible. 

If a thoroughly educated youth will not make a more 
successful business man than the uneducated, then educa- 
tion is not the important institution that it has been held 
to be, and government can relax its efforts to make it 
universal. 

The truth is that no man succeeds in any important 
work who is uneducated ; he may not have studied in our 
schools and colleges, but he has obtained his education 
in a much more laborious and unsatisfactory way. He 
has labored at night without the aid of teachers, and re- 
gretting that he had been deprived of the advantages to 
be derived from our schools. 

If education is power, if it is such a training of the 
intellect as to enable it to work like a perfect piece of 



ADDKESS. 431 

machinery when power is applied to it ; if education so 
trains the human mind that it will reason correctly from 
any premises or facts presented to it ; then the educated 
man has the advantage over his uneducated brother that 
the complete and perfected compound steam-engine of 
to-day has over the crude and incomplete first engine 
made by Watts. 

If the animal we call man is wanted only as a hewer of 
wood and drawer of water, if he is to swing the pick and 
handle the shovel only, if the office boy is never to do 
more than to sweep the floor, weigh the sugar, and mea- 
sure the calico, he need not be college educated. 

It is a well-established fact that the labor of the best 
educated nations is the most effective. The labor in our 
manufacturing industries is from twenty-five to fifty per 
cent, more productive than the same class of labor in 
Europe, and one hundred per cent, more productive than 
among the Orientals. 

Mulhall, the acknowledged authority in statistics, in 
an article in the last number of the "North American 
Eeview," speaking of the great growth of our country, 
says : " The United States in 1895 possesses by far the 
greatest productive power in the world ; that this power 
has more than trebled since 1860, rising from twenty- 
nine to one hundred and thirty-nine milliards of foot-tons 
daily." The result he attributed largely to the general 
diffusion of education among the masses. He further 
says: "The census of 1890 showed that eighty-seven per 
cent, of the total population over ten years of age could 
read and write. It may be fearlessly asserted that in the 
history of the human race no nation ever before possessed 
forty-one millions of instructed citizens. European states 
have certainly made efforts to diffuse popular instruction, 
and with considerable success, but Americans have left 
them far behind in generous and wise-minded expendi- 
ture on education." 

Education is power which increases in geometrical 



432 UNION COLLEGE. 

ratio as it ascends from the kindergarten to the univer- 
sity. The college produces not only the profound scholar 
and philosopher, not only the successful lawyer, doctor, 
and preacher, but the broad-minded merchant, the suc- 
cessful and inventive manufacturer, and the far-seeing 
projector, builder, and manager of our great systems of 
railroads, steamship lines, and the controllers of our for- 
eign and internal commerce. 

The successful merchant of to-day must know the 
markets of the world for the products in which he deals 
or he will be distanced in the race. If he would handle 
wheat with assurance of profit he must know not only 
the crop prospect here, but its condition in the Argen- 
tine, in India, and Russia, as well as in England, France, 
and Germany; he must determine whether there is to 
be a surplus beyond the demands of the world, or a 
shortage. 

The cotton and woolen manufacturer must be equally 
informed as to the supply of his raw material, and he 
must keep abreast of the inventions and improvements 
in the process and machinery which he uses, or he will 
find himself unable to compete with the better informed 
manufacturer. 

The railroad, the steamship, and the telegraph have 
entirely changed the methods of doing business. The 
successful operator of to-day has upon his desk every 
morning the latest quotations from every market in the 
commercial world. Profits are thereby reduced to the 
minimum, and the chances of great gains and great losses 
are equally reduced. 

The manufacturer studies the wants of the human race 
and undertakes to supply them, knowing that if he suc- 
ceeds in meeting or anticipating their wants success is 
assured. 

The man engaged in transportation is continuously 
seeking for every possible improvement in the means of 



ADDEESS. 433 

transportation, and his efforts have given us Bessemer 
steel, which has revolutionized railroads, and reduced its 
cost to a point never dreamed possible ; it has also given 
us the ocean greyhound, which has reduced the distance 
between the continents so greatly that the voyage is no 
longer looked upon as an undertaking of importance, but 
merely as an excursion for pleasure or profit, as the case 
may be. 

If the merchants of Venice, who sent their richly-laden 
argosies the world over, were princes, the merchants, 
manufacturers, and transporters of to-day are producers, 
controllers, and distributors of the wealth of the world. 

These classes have to do with material things; they 
supply the physical wants of man : but take away com- 
merce, manufacturing, and transportation, and you de- 
stroy civilization and man returns to his original and 
barbarous state, where trade is measured by a few shells 
on a string, where manufacturing goes no further than 
the production of bows and arrows and stone hatchets, 
and transportation is carried on in birch-bark canoes or 
dug-outs. 

Education is the force which has changed the face of 
nature from a wilderness to a productive garden, and 
man himself from the savage, self-destroying, and brutal 
being to the man we now know, who so closely ap- 
proaches his Creator in the achievements of his intellect 
as portrayed by Shakspere and Milton in literature, by 
Michael Angelo and Raphael in art, by Alexander and 
Napoleon and Grant in war, by Bismarck, Gladstone, and 
Lincoln in government, by Galileo and Sir Isaac New- 
ton in science, and by a host of others in every depart- 
ment of research and learning. 

Education has freed and ennobled the race; but it 
could not accomplish this until it had broken the bonds 
which for centuries had held it, the property of the few, 
and away from the masses. 
28 



434 UNION COLLEGE. 

When the spread of education shall be as wide as the 
world itself, man will be fit for self-government every- 
where; kings, emperors, and the privileged classes will 
disappear, and universal peace will prevail. 

The college and the university have been free from the 
bigotry and exclusivism of the past. It no longer con- 
fines its teachings to the dead languages and the humani- 
ties, but undertakes to fit our youth for every vocation. 

In this breaking away from the ancient system, Union 
led the van. It was the pioneer in establishing courses 
of study other than the purely classical. 

In 1829 Union established a scientific course as dis- 
tinct from the classical, being the first college in America 
to depart from the old system. The beneficial result 
following this action can be found in every part of our 
land. Nearly every college has established a scientific 
department, rendering it no longer necessary to seek 
abroad the highest scientific learning. 

Fifty years ago the authorities of Union College, real- 
izing what a great work was to be done in America in 
subduing the country and in developing it by rail- 
roads and improving our waterways, set up a school of 
engineering under Professor Gillespie, making it the 
first college in America to establish an engineering de- 
partment. 

Thus it is seen that Union has done much to broaden 
the lines of college training, and to produce, not alone 
the recluse scholar who found his greatest good in add- 
ing to his sum of knowledge for his own delectation, but 
to produce the all-round man who could take his place 
with the best in any career he might choose, whether 
law, medicine, theology, or commerce and trade. 

I cannot take your time to enumerate the sons of Old 
Union who have made its name famous by the success 
they have won for themselves. Without boasting, we 
may say that during the century that is drawing to a 



ADDEESS. 435 

close it has had a greater influence on the welfare and 
position of onr State and the nation, through the men it 
has sent out into active life, than any other college in the 
country. May we not confidently hope that its record 
for the second century, when made up, will be equally 
satisfactory and brilliant? [Applause.] 



EVENING SESSION. 
Cljc College in £tate£maiutf)ip anb $oIitir£, 

Hon. John Gary Evans, Governor of South Carolina, 

presiding. 

MR. SILAS B. BROWNELL, Chairman of the Board 
of Trustees, arose and was greeted with applause. 
He said : I am glad, friends of Union College, that this 
reception should be accorded to me before the address 
which I am about to make is finished. This closing ex- 
ercise of the Centennial of Union College brings to mind 
the action of the committee under which these exercises 
have been arranged and carried out — arranged and car- 
ried out with a delight and enjoyment which I hope will 
only be equaled by the profit and joy to the college which 
will arise from the renewed interest and attention which 
this centennial celebration will awaken in her alumni and 
friends, and by the added facilities which will be afforded 
her for the work ahead. 

Eminently proper is it that after running the whole 
gamut of the professions and vocations, this occasion 
should culminate in an evening devoted to that highest 
of all vocations, statesmanship, and that we should be 
able to listen to a recital of what Union College has done 
in statesmanship and politics. There certainly is no 
sphere in which greater heights may be scaled and nobler 
laurels won than in the sphere of statesmanship and 
28* 437 



438 UNION COLLEGE. 

politics. The true statesman is the true benefactor of 
his kind. 

The committee have appointed to take charge of this 
evening's exercises one who perhaps more than any 
other man of his years is to-day in the eye of the Ameri- 
can people, John Gary Evans, of Union's class of 1883, 
Governor of South Carolina. [Applause, during which 
Governor Evans advanced.] Union College does not 
make every one of her children think alike. She makes 
men who can think for themselves — men who, according 
to their light, do what they think is the right thing to 
do. In leaving the management of this final exercise of 
the Centennial in the kindly hands of Governor Evans, 
I wish to express the thanks of the corporation which I 
represent for your attendance and interest in these entire 
Centennial proceedings; and especially to thank the 
strangers among us for their generous appreciation of 
every effort made by its representatives for their enter- 
tainment. I take great pleasure in presenting Governor 
Evans and leaving you in his care. [Applause.] 



ADDEESS 

BY GOVERNOR EVANS. 

Class of 1883. 

IADIES AND GENTLEMEN, Fellow Alumni and Un- 
■i dergraduates of Union College : I desire at the out- 
set to thank the committee who have invited me to be 
present and preside upon this occasion. I assure you 
that my pleasure to-night at being here is akin to that 
which fills the heart of a dutiful son when he attends a 
birthday gathering in honor of his mother ; and it gives 
me filial joy to bring to my alma mater what small hon- 
ors, if they be such, I may have gained, and lay them at 
her feet. 

In America, the college is at once a needed and a po- 
tent factor in statesmanship and politics. We might say 
that the college has been the salvation of the Union. 
But, friends, I have not come here to review past differ- 
ences which once divided a united family. I have come 
here to bring a message to the young statesmen of Old 
Union — ay, and to the old statesmen, that they may 
consider the grievous needs of our nation. I bring to 
you a message from a section which I have the honor to 
represent, a section to which the preservation of this 
Union is as dear as it is to New York or Massachusetts. 
While possibly some of you may have thought from 
reading the press reports that South Carolina was ready 
to secede again, nothing could be farther removed 

439 



440 UNION COLLEGE. 

from the truth. The lesson of the war is not so easily 
forgotten. But I repeat that my message to you does 
not concern past differences. My home is where, at this 
season of the year, with the perfume of the magnolia 
commingles the delicious odor of ripening fruits and har- 
vests. Grod has blessed that country with the blessings 
and favors of nature. The earth fain would bless with 
abundance all her children there; and yet, strange and 
unnatural as it may seem, in that God -favored country 
to-day there are people who are actually struggling for 
a bare existence, simply because they lack a proper 
medium of exchange. Heaven looks kindly down, the 
earth pours forth her treasure, everything is right but 
the misgovernment of man. We are thrifty; we are pro- 
gressive ; and our climate and soil will not let us starve 
in spite of injustice and folly ; and we of the young South 
are determined to win in the industrial arts and in the 
race of progress — and yet for want of a fair medium of 
exchange many of our people are compelled almost to 
pawn their pots ! This question is for the young states- 
man to grapple with, for the young graduates of Union 
College to examine and answer. In the solution of this 
problem the country seems to be divided into three sec- 
tions, one section being the South, a second section being 
the West, and a third section being the North and East. 
At present the interests of these three sections seem to 
be conflicting; they seem to be irreconcilable. It would 
seem impossible at the present moment for any man to 
point out the legislation by which these diverse interests 
would be equally preserved intact, and to the glory of 
our common Union. I know not why this should be so. 
We hear the rumblings of the distant storm. There is 
unrest, and I fear something more than mere disquiet. I 
touch upon this question timidly ; for the man who al- 
ludes to it is likely to be assailed as a demagogue by 
almost the entire public press. When we tell you that 



ADDEESS. 441 

we have every blessing that Grod could bestow upon a 
people, and that we are moving forward in our industries 
and in our educational facilities, and in the same breath 
tell you that we are " poor indeed," it does seem as if we 
were indulging in very conflicting statements. But there 
is a question here pressing for solution ; and the task 
which confronts the young statesman and politician is 
more serious even than that which the North had to deal 
with in the days of secession and war. 

In time of peace we have an effort made looking toward 
a centralization of power and of wealth. We have here 
this danger, and I can speak plainly in this presence, for 
here I am no alieu, no mere citizen of another State. Here 
I am a son of Old Union, and I am speaking to a band of 
brothers among whom heart beats with heart, and the 
trouble of one is the concern of all. [Applause.] We 
have this danger to the Republic, the massing of mighty 
power and colossal wealth in the hands of the few quar- 
tered in our populous cities. It is a danger which we of 
the South feel more keenly than you of the North ; and 
it is a danger which must be dealt with courageously. 
In your own metropolis alone twenty families control 
enough wealth to purchase a sovereign State, although it 
seems that they regard English lords and French counts 
as a more interesting, if not a more lucrative, investment. 
These enormous and ever-accumulating fortunes exist; 
and what a mighty force for the corruption of govern- 
ment they represent ! The agriculturists of the country 
are poor, and one might almost say actually begging for 
the necessaries of life. We of the South are an agricul- 
tural people. The people of the West are agricultural in 
their interests. We are dependent upon you and you 
are dependent upon us. Cannot we then harmonize our 
differences? Will there not be a sounder and broader 
statesmanship disseminated from our institutions of 
learning, so that selfishness may not threaten and de- 



442 UNION COLLEGE. 

stroy the liberties for which our fathers fought? I tell 
you what we of the South feel to-day, and what you 
yourselves must inevitably feel. The South lost last 
year twenty million dollars upon her cotton crop. A 
syndicate in New York made fifteen million dollars upon 
the bonds it took to pay the debt ! While these things 
go on and vast wealth is accumulating in one section of 
the country, can you not see the danger that threatens 
the very life of the Republic ? In the days of Rome this 
centralization of wealth caused great murmurings and 
mutterings among the people which the authorities tried to 
appease by the distribution of free corn. But this means 
of purchasing peace became finally powerless and the 
Republic fell. Shall we pursue the same course that is 
strewn with the ashes of Roman greatness ? Or shall we 
not rather seek an answer to the question of how to at- 
tain an equitable distribution of wealth among our whole 
people ? This is the question we face to-day, my friends. 
This is the question the answer to which we seek. But 
the young statesmen and the young politicians of the 
South and the West and the North who ask this ques- 
tion are denounced as demagogues. If there are those 
here who doubt the condition of our people at the South, 
caused, as we believe, by this crying evil of the unequal 
distribution of wealth, let them go down into the homes 
of these people, or send their statesmen, to see for them- 
selves. I am satisfied that if you should see these things 
and should realize the danger as we realize it, that broad 
statesmanship which has always charactei'ized the sons 
of Union in times of danger would prevail and triumph 
over it all. This is the sentiment in which the South 
asks the North to join for the dispersion of the common 
danger and the solution of this problem which chal- 
lenges the highest statecraft. Such is the sentiment 
which I represent here to-night, extending the grasp of 
my hand and the deep desire of my heart to the young 



ADDEESS. 443 

statesmen of the North. Let there be no conflicting in- 
terests. Let there be no danger of this kind threatening 
our stability in the eyes of the nations of the earth. Let 
us take your products in a fair exchange for ours, and 
let us go forward to a common prosperity. We will do 
our best to deal with this question at the South. We 
have cast aside all animosity ; there is no feeling but for 
the common weal. And when you hear that So-and-So 
of the old school has been displaced, do not attribute it 
to demagogues, but to the sound, progressive element 
that goes out from Old Union College. [Applause.] 

Now, my friends, as I said, I have come here with no 
subject for discussion whatever. I have come simply 
to set forth a few facts for the young statesman to con- 
sider, in order that he may leave here feeling that all is 
not well with his nation ; feeling that the mutterings of 
the people and the uprisings, which he is told are sim- 
ply the result of the leadership of designing men, are, 
in fact, from that class which has always saved the na- 
tion. Let the young statesman remember that he who 
saves his country saves all things, and all things saved 
will bless him. [Applause.] 

After music by the College Mandolin Club and the 
College Glee Club, 

Governor Evans said : It is with great pleasure, my friends, that I in- 
troduce a graduate of Old Union, who, during the time that tried men's 
souls, was receiving good, wholesome instruction from the old fountain of 
learning here. I introduce Hon. David C. Robinson, of the class of '65, a 
citizen of your own State. [Applause.] 



ADDRESS 

BY HON. DAVID C. ROBINSON. 

Class of 1865. 

MR. CHAIRMAN, Ladies and Gentlemen : Once 
more the silence of the summer rests upon these 
venerated walls. Once more the light and the living 
green make beautiful the twilight. Once more the fra- 
grance and the radiance of flower and foliage are in the 
air around us. Once more the gathered throng of sons 
devoted is in the city of our long-time love. Once more, 
for an hour, the inter veniug past is gone, and on the 
surge of a perennial youth we rise as fresh in sentiment 
as these before us whose faces are yet radiant with the 
light of life's bright morning. Around us are the hopes, 
the fears, the joys, the sorrows, the dreads, and dreams 
of years now gone forever. With us are faces now no 
more of earth. Consecrated hands stretch out to us 
across the chasm of the vanished past. Holy voices 
sound out like echoes from the years beyond the flood. 
Shadows of the almost forgotten dance in the soft 
light of evening. 

Bear with us, friends, if, amid these day-dreams, we 
linger just a little, ere the curtain falls on them forever. 
Bear with us while the lights seem touched with colors 
not alone of earth ; while the songs of other years seem 
fraught with harmonies not now in music known to men ; 
while the voices that do speak, the faces that do look, 



ADDEESS. 445 

the scenes that force their coming, have in them each 
that sacred something which is all the world to ns. So 
come the memories of youth to those who have such 
treasures in the past as we may claim. Be not surprised 
that in this summer air, by this calm stream, within 
these classic shades, the sheen of lights departed tints all 
the shadows of the coming night. For we are gathered 
at this ancient seat as we shall not again gather while we 
live on earth. Fain would we tarry long within this at- 
mosphere of thought. Would we might here forget the 
stern and unrelenting call of earthly duty, and the high 
sanction of its disobedience. Alas ! not such our privi- 
lege ! There is a promise yet unfulfilled ; a hope so far 
deferred ; a dream as yet unrealized of rest beyond our 
earthly vision. Speed its good coming ; but it is not 
with us yet. The trumpet-call to action speaks out as 
never before. Our stay in the land of sentiment must 
needs be short. 

The fragrance of these flowers of memory springs from 
the care with which they have been tended. That which 
they are, that which they speak, that which they sym- 
bolize to us, is born of years of constant labor and un- 
ending devotion. The love, the care, the thought, the 
work of a hundred years stand around about the radiant 
achievings of to-day, and make foundation for the airy 
mirage in the which so many of us revel for an hour. 
As out of the varied harmony of some vast cathedral 
organ sounds all at once the mighty undertone of a diapa- 
son, so sounds to us the story of the end and aim of this 
one hundred years. What plans, what thought ingenious, 
what learning sublime, what questions debated and de- 
cided, what forecast used, what perils tried and shunned, 
what problems solved and laid aside, are gathered in the 
history of that hundred years ? What wonder that as to 
an ancient shrine we pilgrims of the dark and doubtful 
night come up with shoes put off our feet to tread awhile 



446 UNION COLLEGE. 

the holy ground, while still the diapason thunders in our 
ears. Peace rest upon them both — the silent shrine, the 
speaking memory. 

What this institution, its teachers, its founders and 
leaders have accomplished in the century of its existence 
is written in letters indelible upon the history of our 
country, upon the record of its every science, in the leg- 
ends of every noble effort of the human mind which our 
land has known. Filled with the sense of all that she is, 
of all that she has been, of all that her noble sons have 
done, I am asked to speak to you to-night of Union Col- 
lege in statesmanship and politics. I shall not tell you 
of the shock this summons gave me. For thirty years I 
have stood subject to Union's every call. No demand 
that she could make would ever fill the measure of that 
which I owe to her. For her I have dared every sort of 
peril, from the long-drawn debates of her Board of Trus- 
tees to the dietetic dangers of the Alumni lunch. Yet 
had I hoped, when I was bidden to voice some sentiment 
in her honor, it might have been in lighter mood to cele- 
brate the gallantry, the music, or the poetry of other 
years, the girls we loved, the songs we sang, the verses 
we indited — why was I not asked to speak of these? 
[Laughter.] Alas, not so. The girls are here — same ones 
— to speak for themselves! [Laughter.] The songs are 
tabooed by a re-organized police, and the verses — well, 
what can be expected to survive in an age of reform ! 
So, as often in our previous residence in this neighbor- 
hood, we are turned against our will from folly to serious 
thought. 

The first step in the discussion of such a theme as 
your committee have punished the speaker with is a 
definition of what is meant by " statesmanship " and 
what by "politics." Here and now, if ever and any- 
where, let us speak the truth, and thus, perhaps, even at 
this late day, atone for some past shortcomings in this 



ADDRESS. 447 

vicinity as touching that sort of speech. "Politics," in 
the language of the modern American, is generally ac- 
counted the art of swindling the other side out of what- 
ever seems to be afloat ; " statesmanship," the higher art 
of concealing the swindle after its perpetration. The 
dreams of our fathers of a government of the people, by 
the people, and for the people, has somehow resolved it- 
self into the motto of the modern American statesman, 
"What is there in it for us?" And with politicians 
buying voters at five dollars apiece; poll-workers de- 
manding ten dollars a day; ward-heelers receiving fifty 
dollars a week ; assemblymen said to be for sale at two 
hundred dollars each, and senators at five hundred dol- 
lars each ; bribery in the Congressional and Legislative 
halls of statesmen by day, and draw poker in the hotels 
by the same statesmen at night, the conscientious orator 
finds himself backed up against a pyramid of past glories 
a hundred years old, and asked to define the position 
which Union College ought to occupy in statesmanship 
and politics. Is it a wonder that sometimes he almost 
sympathizes with the theory that the women — God bless 
them ! — are the only true statesmen, and that the millen- 
nium will only come when Susan Jones is President and 
Sairey Gamp Secretary of State [laughter], when the 
new woman runs the primaries and Union College grad- 
uates are only allowed in politics with a woman's permit 
— not good after dark at that, and not issued at all in 
the State of South Carolina. 

There is a little philosophy in that time-worn story of 
the doting parents, who, unable to decide to what voca- 
tion they should devote their hopeful son, aged eight, 
agreed to watch him on the playground of the school- 
house from a near-by window, and to determine the 
question by his doings there. If he did all the talking, 
he should be a lawyer. If he swapped jack-knives, he 
should be a merchant. If he drew chalk pictures, he 



448 UNION COLLEGE. 

should be an artist. If he fought, he should go to West 
Point. And when, five minutes before recess, the young 
hopeful, having played hookey on his too confiding in- 
structor, stole three lunch-baskets and. four big apples, 
and made away with his entire plunder behind the school- 
house, the fond father exclaimed in ecstasy, " My dear, 
he 's a hog. Let 's make a politician of him." [Laugh- 
ter.] Nor are we able to say that judged by modern 
standards the youth was totally unfitted for the career 
thus proudly marked out for him. Still, in this same line 
of thought, I might mention some instances of magnificent 
self-denial which ought not to be overlooked. In a dis- 
trict not far from that which has the honor of my resi- 
dence, a Republican caucus was recently called — for some 
good purpose, I suppose. Factional feeling was high, 
and although there were but three hundred voters in the 
district, when the polls were opened it was found that 
there were two thousand ballots in the hat. The success- 
ful party declined to accept . the results of this notable 
triumph on the ground that there was reason in all 
things. I need hardly say that he lost his political stand- 
ing at once, and has been called a Mugwump ever since, 
whatever that opprobrious term may mean. 

In recent thirst for political information I asked a local 
statesman, who weighed two hundred and seventy-five 
pounds and wore a number six hat, " How do you man- 
age to carry a caucus where there are four hundred votes 
against you, and only twenty-five with you?" "Well," 
he replied, " the first thing is to import some more votes." 
" And what then ? " " Oh, you 've got to have good 
feeling." " And how do you obtain that ? " " Oh," said 
he, " I always buy it by the keg. It is cheaper, and they 
like it better." I need hardly add that when this genius 
came to be properly appreciated, he was at once ap- 
pointed postmaster by a Democratic Grovernment. 

If these were idle fancies, friends, we might laugh and 



ADDKESS. 449 

pass them by. Perhaps I owe apology to audience so 
cultured that even for a moment I drop to speech so 
rude. Yet should I remind you that out of just such an 
atmosphere spring now the powers that control the rights 
we have, or ought to have, as well as our place and stand- 
ing with the nations of the earth 1 To these and such as 
they may choose is now committed the right to make 
our laws, to choose our officers, and the high prerogative 
to make provision for defending title to property rights 
of man, and the sacred honor of woman. That it is so 
is our own fault. We have gone so far astray in the pur- 
suit of dollars and cents that we have forgotten the higher 
duty which we owe to the commonwealth ; we have 
lost sight of those better things which are not to be meas- 
ured by the standards of commercial value. We have no 
right to condemn the methods of politics and politicians, 
while we stand idly by and refuse to recognize our own 
obligations to the social pact. Statesmanship does not 
mean office-holding. The discharge of public duty does 
not demand that the citizen must become a caucus candi- 
date or a political wire-puller. In the better days, not 
long ago, our public policy was the matured result of an 
unselfish devotion to the common weal. To-day the 
scramble for political preferment, personal aggrandize- 
ment, and private gain have made the public service dis- 
tasteful to the very men who ought to adorn it. It is 
the duty of those who stand equipped, as are the sons of 
Union, for this righteous warfare, to force their way into 
the midst of this unclean and hateful scramble, and there 
do valiant and unselfish battle for the restoration of our 
government to its former high estate. In this way only 
can we discharge the full duty which we owe our Alma 
Mater, and as well the duty we owe to the land we love. 
What this college has been to our government, what it 
has been to our State, what it has been to every consti- 
tutional and legislative reform, are matters of history. 
29 



450 UNION COLLEGE. 

So thoroughly identified is it and its past with all that is 
best in American statesmanship and American politics, 
that the pride and glory of the State of New York, and 
the honor of the United States, are intertwined with the 
work and triumphs of Union College as is one strand of 
a rope with another. 

I might well linger here to speak the name and fame 
of many an honored son of Union College who has re- 
flected glory upon her. It would be a pleasant task to re- 
call the many who walked here with reverent feet, learned 
here great lessons from the book of human nature, and 
went forth to a heritage of toil and care for others, which 
have made names immortal for themselves and riches 
uncounted for their fellow-men. I could tell you of him 
whose scholarly foresight beheld the coming storm of 
forty years ago, and whose clarion voice gave warning of 
the irrepressible conflict even then upon us. I could tell 
you of others who, with equal skill and equal zeal, did 
yeoman service in the great issues of those other days 
and the re-organizations which have followed storms now 
passed away. These would be pleasant words to speak 
and hear. Not so, however, do I account the highest 
aim of our concurrent thought to-night. That which 
does most honor to her we celebrate is not the work and 
wisdom of any one or any hundred of her sons. They 
only illustrated that which they had here been taught. 
They only trod the paths to which their feet had here 
been early turned. Let us rather contemplate the spirit 
of that teaching, the lines of those successful paths. Not 
long need we ponder ere the symmetry and strength, the 
high argument, of this great work are borne in upon us. 
Whose mind so ready ; whose thought so keen ; whose 
ken so wide ; whose eye so bright in all the broad field 
of statesmanship as that of them who drank deep 
draughts at the fountains of truth here set at liberty, and 
by the strength thus gained led on a nation through a 



ADDRESS. 451 

wilderness beset by many perplexities and watered with 
a flood of anxious tears ! By what a path this people 
have marched here ! The pillar of cloud by day and the 
pillar of fire by night were no more wonderful than the 
signs of the heavens which, read by eyes almost inspired, 
have been guide and compass to the land we love. As 
Moses, elect of Heaven, stood in the way to hear the di- 
rections of infinite wisdom and yet remains unrivaled in 
the glory of his work, so still stands sure the fame of them 
who have had perception to recognize the drift of human 
progress, and wisdom to direct the people of this nation 
thus far on its road of prosperity, growth, and improve- 
ment. No man shall wisely lead his fellow-man but as 
he knows the road to that man's mind and heart. The 
study of mankind alone makes possible the triumph of 
the statesman, the symmetry of the State. The great 
issues of right and wrong can only be taught to men by 
those who have long known the paths which lead from 
man to man. This is the knowledge which the world 
most needs and has most sadly lacked. He who has im- 
bibed it stands panoplied in armor well meant for every 
social fray even in these tempestuous days. 

I put aside as unworthy of respect the distinction so 
often drawn between statesmanship and politics. If we 
are to endure as a nation, if we are to grow in strength and 
purity, the wretched idea that politics is the science and 
practice of public spoliation must be abandoned forever. 
The methods of the American caucus and those of the 
forty thieves are so nearly akin that the attempt to dis- 
tinguish them is a waste of time. The difference between 
the buccaneers of two centuries ago and the average ward 
politician of to-day is principally one of hats and boots, 
albeit one carried his weapon in his belt and the other 
has it in his pocket. The cheats, the deals, the grabs 
and steals, the fraud and lies, the perjury and swindling 
which have made the record of partizanship for twenty 



452 UNION COLLEGE. 

years, lie at the root of that which threatens us and our 
institutions to-day. These tricks and crimes should be 
relegated to the jurisdiction of the penal courts, where 
alone they belong. The statesmanship and the politics 
of which we speak differ from each other only in that the 
latter consists in the advocacy of a policy, the former in 
the administration of a government. 

It is the pride and glory of our common mother that 
her teaching has been that of an intelligent philanthropy 
through all the century of her existence. In her classes, 
whatever else has been neglected, two great lessons have 
always been taught — the eternal strength of right over 
wrong, and the great study of human nature. In every 
phase of fancy, by every road of illustration, these 
lessons have been given over and over again. Within 
these halls, for every moment since 1795, the lessons of a 
true democracy, the equal rights of man and man, the 
universal and impartial right of the weakest to the pro- 
tection of law have been the alphabet of instruction. 
What wonder that, thus taught, her sons have filled, in 
proportion to their numbers, a tenfold wider field in the 
range of scholarly statesmanship and true politics than 
those of any institution of the land ? This is the high- 
est, the noblest output of human thought and culture. 
To lead aright the feet of a confiding people, to deserve 
the trust they place, are worth the contents of a thousand 
coffers, outshine the jewels of a thousand crowns. 

And now draws near the hour that shall try men's 
souls as they have never yet been tried. The evolution 
of the past decade brings us face to face with great 
changes in our social structure — vast accumulations of 
wealth on the one hand, gaunt poverty on the other. 
Here the grind of great capital, there the murmur of dis- 
content ; personal aggrandizement and display, bitter re- 
sentment and hatred, fill the story of to-day. Organiza- 
tions of masters here, of servants there, are pushing, 



ADDEESS. 453 

crowding each other till the earth is full of dreary discord. 
Still the march of invention fills the scene with shifts so 
sudden as to reach the marvelous. To-day the Brother- 
hood of Locomotive Engineers is the most powerful and 
well disciplined of organizations. Ten years hence the 
locomotive itself will be a thing of the past. In many 
fields the development of electric machinery makes each 
year the training and the labor of other years absolutely 
worthless. What social unrest and disturbance shall 
attend these changes none can measure. What human 
wisdom shall forecast the perils sure to come, and pro- 
vide elastic safeguards for social order in its hour of 
danger? Not idly content are a million workmen to see 
the support of families dwindle ; not without peril shall 
be the evolution of a system which cuts in twain the 
compensation of the toiling millions. Yet these changes 
knock at the very gates of the citadel. The question and 
the peril are here. 

My friends, that which made this good mother what 
she has been shall make her still more to our land in the 
fast-coming storm. Here through the generations has 
been taught — aye, and illustrated — the great lesson of 
self-sacrifice. If modern statesmanship and modern poli- 
tics have been debased and degraded by greed and avarice, 
they shall find their uplift in a magnificent self-denial, 
which shall crowd out the venal and putrescent ringsters 
of the day. God forgive them; they have laid hands 
upon the very ark of the covenant. But here in this land 
of the loyal, in this home of the hopeful, on the threshold 
of better days for us and our children, they shall not sell 
our birthright for a mess of pottage. They shall not 
traffic in class hatred and legislative spoil. 

There are roads resplendent which lead from the high- 
est to the lowest, and these roads are fragrant with a 
thousand flowers of manly courage and womanly faith. 
If it be true that one touch of human nature makes all 
29* 



454 UNION COLLEGE. 

the world akin, then, at the summons consecrate of an un- 
selfish devotion, these flowers shall yet bloom as never 
in the world's sad history. And he who has read aright 
the law of self-sacrifice has in his grasp the wand of 
human progress, the open sesame to social blessings yet 
unnumbered. To the well-educated the contention be- 
tween employer and employed should be impossible, the 
social overturn a sublime mistake, class bitterness the 
acme of human folly. Forget not we that when the One 
divine made effort to redeem a world, he stooped to 
lowest depth, and in the crown of thorns found insignia 
of glory eternal. " When thou tookest upon thee to de- 
liver man, thou didst humble thyself to be born of a vir- 
gin," is text magnificent for him who would be true 
statesman, true politician. The meed of him who loves 
and labors for his native land can never be measured by 
pelf or price. That this great lesson has been always the 
teaching of our alma mater is the secret of her past, 
the promise of her future. 

I shall not fill the measure of your thought and mind 
if I cease these words unmindful of that which we owe 
to those great souls whose very forms do seem again to 
teach us as in the years agone. In their lives they 
showed forth the lessons of that very self-devotion in 
which alone we now have hope — that human sympathy 
which alone opens the door to other hearts. Here, on 
the ground they trod when they made plain the best of 
learning, it is meet that we do honor to that which they 
were and did, now that they rest from their labors. In 
the temples of the attained glory they shall wear laurels 
worthy of their work. If, in the far off city where those 
temples stand, we are some day accounted not unfit to 
enter, the crowns most bright will, I am sure, be found 
adorning those dear friends of yours and mine whose 
simple lives of self-forgetfulness made possible what this 
institution is, what her sons have done in the days that 



ADDRESS. 455 

are gone, and what they shall do in the. better days to 
come; at once the high argument of our thanksgiving 
for that which Union College has been in the statesman- 
ship and politics of the past, and our hope for that which 
she shall be in the better statesmanship and politics of 
the future. 



ADDRESS 

BY CHARLES EMORY SMITH, LL. D. 

Class of 1861. 

PLUTARCH gives us an interesting account of the 
early training of Pericles. The first statement is 
that Damon, under the pretense of teaching him music, 
instructed him in politics. Whether politics was some- 
thing to be disguised under a more innocent accomplish- 
ment, we are left to infer; be that as it may, it was 
awarded the first place. Zeno opened to the young stu- 
dent the alluring paths of natural philosophy. Under 
the influence of Anaxagoras, who first recognized the 
intelligent law of the universe, he gained the elevation 
and sublimity of sentiment and the loftiness and purity 
of style which gave such dignity and splendor to his 
speaking. 

Through these varied teachings the great Athenian 
orator and statesman developed and broadened the na- 
tive powers which burst forth in Olympian eloquence, 
and made such a profound impress upon his country and 
his age. With it all there was a mixture of athletics. 
When Thucydides was asked which was the best wrest- 
ler, Pericles or he, he answered, "When I throw him, 
he says he was never down, and he persuades the very 
spectators to believe so." Yet with all this training 
which enriched his culture and sustained his flights and 
amplified his inherent forces, he maintained unceasing 



ADDKESS. 457 

watchfulness, and never spoke in public without first ad- 
dressing a prayer to the gods "that not a word might 
unawares escape him unsuitable to the occasion." 

Herein lies the key of success. The triumphs of public 
life are rarely accidental. There is no test more severe 
than that of constantly passing under the public judg- 
ment. And so the record of an institution which is lumi- 
nous with the achievements of her sons is not a matter 
of chance. The influences and methods which implant 
the knack of getting on are not the hazard of the hour. 
The glory of Union was not adventitious. Through a 
hundred years her history is radiant with the chaplets of 
honor which have come to her graduates, and which 
their achievements have woven together in a rich gar- 
land for the brow of the beloved alma mater. Splendid 
as are her trophies in law, in theology, in science, in 
philosophy, in educatioD, and in practical affairs, there is 
no field of intellectual success from which she derives 
more luster than from the conquests of her sons in the 
realm of higher politics and statesmanship. Where is 
there a roll which glitters with a greater constellation of 
shining names than those of Spencer, Yates, Breese, 
Blatchford, Tallmadge, Stockton, Conkling, Bayard, Har- 
ris, Toombs, Peckham, Cassidy, Potter, Bigelow, Blair, 
Danforth, Hartranft, Butterfield, Miller, Seward, and 
Arthur I 

It is a proverb that in the earlier years Union had a 
larger proportion of representatives in conspicuous public 
life than any other institution. There were times when 
she had half a dozen sons from as many different States 
sitting together in the United States Senate. She made 
governors, cabinet ministers, diplomats, bishops, chief 
justices, and presidents. Nor was this a mere fortuitous 
result. It was the natural fruit of a deliberate policy 
and well-defined methods. It was the legitimate out- 
growth of the sagacious system of a master who in many 



458 UNION COLLEGE. 

respects ranks as the greatest educator this country has 
ever seen. Dr. Nott was Damon and Zeno and Anaxa- 
goras in one. Under the symphonies of music he could 
suggest the notes of politics. Under the analogies of 
philosophy he could deduce the principles of life. He 
had an unrivaled power of inspiration. With his match- 
less skill, whether in private talk or in public speech, he 
might say, in the words of Shakspere : 

Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear. 

It was his theory to rule not by arbitrary law but by 
reason and persuasion. He had a profound knowledge 
of the human heart. With his marvelous insight and 
discernment he intuitively saw the peculiar character of 
each individual mind. With his consummate address he 
instinctively adapted his methods to their varying re- 
quirements. He developed manhood by treating his boys 
as men. He put them upon their honor. He deftly 
touched the real springs of honorable aspiration. He 
took the wayward by the hand and believed in giving 
every man a chance. He taught his students to measure 
their own resources and strengthened their individuality. 
He was himself both a masterly instructor and an im- 
posing example. Had he been in politics he would have 
been a Thurlow Weed and a William H. Seward in one. 
His range was broad and varied. He could rise to sub- 
lime heights and he could sound the inmost depths of 
sympathy and devotion. In his stately oration on Ham- 
ilton we could feel that 

'T is the Divinity that stirs within him. 

In the gentle and gracious tenderness with which he put 
his strong arm around the humblest student and gave 
him encouragement and incentive we could feel that 't is 
the humanity that moves him. 



ADDRESS. 459 

Under this mighty influence, at once powerful and 
mellow, which stamped itself upon the whole character 
of Union and fixed her impress, she shaped her policy 
and worked out her career. Was it the immediate im- 
pression and the direct observation of the power exer- 
cised by a great educator in molding lives that sent forth 
from the halls of Union such a remarkable number of 
men themselves distinguished in education, like Way- 
land and Nevin, Alden and Raymond; and that gave 
presidents to Brown, Bowdoin, Rutgers, Madison, Lafay- 
ette, Jefferson, Franklin and Marshall, Hobart, Ken- 
tucky, Kalamazoo, Vassar and still other colleges 1 Was 
it this personal example that influenced the not dissimilar 
bent of the leonine Robert J. Breckenridge, who carried 
from the liberty-loving discourses of Dr. Nott an anti- 
slavery impulse even within the domain of Kentucky — 
a bent that led the Boanerges of the pulpit to maintain 
an active interest in public affairs, and to preside over 
the national convention of 1864 which crowned the na- 
tional will in the renomination of Abraham Lincoln ? 
That training made no Procrustean bed. It left men to 
follow their natural careers. It gave John Howard Payne, 
Fitzhugh Ludlow and Douglas Campbell to literature. 
It sent forth Cassidy, Bigelow and Wilkeson to shine 
among the great lights of journalism. It contributed 
Breese, Halleck, Butterfield, and Hartranft to heroic 
deeds on sea and land. It illuminated American juris- 
prudence with an extraordinary number of resplendent 
names whose portraiture belongs to other tongues than 
mine. In every domain of intellectual effort its monu- 
ments tower among the most conspicuous illustrations 
of American genius. 

The influence and impress of Union were as broad as 
the bounds of the Republic. She gave two chief justices 
to Illinois ; governors to Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsyl- 
vania, South Carolina, and Massachusetts; senators to 



460 UNION COLLEGE. 

New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois and other States. She 
cherishes in the honored roll of War Governors the sturdy 
Austin Blair, of Michigan. But though measured by no 
State limits her stamp is naturally most marked upon 
the imperial commonwealth with which she is especially 
identified. The political history of New York is in large 
degree the biography of sons of Union. From the very 
first her roll was one of distinction. Among the gradu- 
ates of 1800 was Gerrit Y. Lansing, for many years the 
influential representative of Albany in Congress, whose 
silvery locks and benignant face still diffused their kindly 
light and left their gracious picture in my boyhood days. 
Then in swift succession came in 1806 John C. Spencer, 
in 1807 Joseph C. Yates, in 1809 Gideon Hawley, and in 
1810 Alfred Conkling. 

Judge Conkling was more than the father of Roscoe 
Conkling. He was himself an embodiment of the high- 
bred qualities he transmitted, a leader of opinion, a con- 
gressman of repute, a distinguished Minister to Mexico, 
and a jurist whom John Quincy Adams was glad to ap- 
point to the bench because of the esteem formed during 
their association in Congress. When Joseph C. Yates was 
named as judge he had not gained fame, and there was 
some surprise. But he sustained himself so well that he 
was elected governor, and for years in a stormy era he 
played an important part. He was not daring, adven- 
turous, or overmastering; but those who have seen the 
representation of his statuesque head, with his lofty brow 
surmounted by his Apollo locks, can understand that he 
was dignified, discreet, and cautious. Gideon Hawley had 
been only three years out of Union when he was made 
superintendent of schools, and gained the enduring dis- 
tinction of being the father of the common-school system 
of New York. He was earnest, indefatigable, and crea- 
tive. " For the paltry sum of $300 a year," says the his- 
torian, "he perfected a system for the management of 



ADDRESS. 461 

the school fund ; the organization of every neighborhood 
in this great State into school districts; for a fair and 
equal distribution of the bounty of the State into every 
school district ; and he devised a plan of operations by 
which this vast machinery could be moved and managed 
by a single individual." It was one of the beauties of the 
old Council of Appointment that soon after he had in- 
augurated this great work he was removed. But he lived 
for years a shining pillar in the social and public fabric. 
I well remember as a school-boy with what veneration 
we looked to his tall form slightly bent, and to that im- 
pressive aspect, at once genial and commanding, through 
which gleamed his true benevolence of soul. 

John C. Spencer brings us at once to the arena of high 
politics. For nearly twenty years he was one of the 
chief gladiators. He was the pride of the Clintonians in 
their fight with the Bucktails. He was a leader in the 
anti-Masonic party. He was a Whig who served and 
sacrificed himself with Tyler. Speaker of the Assembly, 
Secretary of State at Albany, Secretary of War and of 
the Treasury at Washington, several times a candidate 
for United States senator, he ranged almost the whole 
gamut of political honors. He was not preeminent for 
his Christian forbearance, as appeared when, after one 
of Thurlow Weed's keen rapier attacks on Edwin Cros- 
well of the " Argus," he wrote to Weed in these words : 
" What an awful rent you have made in Neddy's hypo- 
critical morality cloak ! You have ungowned him more 
effectually than it was ever done before. But spare him 
not. He deserves no mercy at your hands until he re- 
pents and asks forgiveness of his sins." Here is the 
smell of brimstone and the glare of the forked flames ! 
But Weed, though long the friend of Spencer, was not 
blind to his faults. He sought in vain to save him from 
allying his fortunes with Tyler, and in his autobiography 
gives us a glimpse of his judgment when he speaks of 



462 UNION COLLEGE. 

Spencer's " political eccentricity of character." Seward 
reflected the same opinion when, discussing Spencer for 
the vice-presidency, he said " he is too apt to go off on a 
tangent." But however mercurial and unrestrained, he 
was brilliant, accomplished, and forceful, and has left an 
enduring name in the annals of the State. 

The classes from 1815 to 1819 embraced four embryo 
United States senators — Nathaniel P. Tallmadge of 
New York ; Richard Stockton, bearing one of the great 
names of New Jersey ; Sidney Breese, who was also 
Chief Justice of Illinois ; and James A. Bayard, of Dela- 
ware, the heir and transmitter of one of the few political 
dynasties of the country, himself both the son and the 
father of a senator. Tallmadge, though a Democrat, was 
the avowed friend of the Protective policy. When Jack- 
son and Van Buren forced the sub-treasury scheme he 
antagonized the administration. These facts led to his 
reelection by the Whigs, though such conspicuous Whigs 
as John C. Spencer and Millard Fillmore aspired to the 
place. After his retirement from the Senate President 
Tyler appointed him Governor of the Territory of Wis- 
consin, and Washington Hunt wrote : " All things con- 
sidered, I do not regret it, except that I feel mortified to 
see him take a commission under this miserable admin- 
istration " — a little touch of the political feeling of the 
time ! Bayard served in the Senate nearly twenty years, 
from 1851 to 1870. He preserved the fame of the father 
and anticipated the eminence of the son. He was worthy 
of the name, without fear and without reproach. In 
1868, upon receiving an offer of stock of the Credit Mo- 
bilier he wrote in reply : " I take it for granted that the 
corporation has no application to make to Congress on 
which I should be called to act officially, as I could not, 
consistently with my views of duty, vote upon a question 
in which I had a pecuniary interest." Truly a worthy 
code of public ethics. 



ADDEESS. 163 

The years which trained Bayard ripened a rich and 
fruitful harvest. Dr. Breckenridge was his classmate. 
Bishop Alonzo Potter, refined, classic, sedate, was one 
year ahead of him. One year behind came the famous 
class of 1820, — Laurens P. Hickok, with his profound 
and ponderous metaphysical mind ; Tayler Lewis, acute 
and consummate master of all Greek lore ; William Kent, 
son of the great chancellor and himself a jurist of high 
repute ; and that fairest of all the flowers of Union, Wil- 
liam Henry Seward, of whom more further on. A little 
later there was Ira Harris, stately and majestic, a model 
law master, a sound judge and a conscientious senator; 
Charles J. Jenkins, Chief Justice and Governor of Georgia; 
and Amasa J. Parker, direct, learned, and forcible. The 
class of 1826 was a brilliant galaxy — well-beloved Cap- 
tain Jack; the hearty, practical Amos Dean; the versa- 
tile Judge and Comptroller Allen ; Thomas Hun, wise in 
the science of life; the finely-chiseled and scholarly 
Horatio Potter; the courtly Orlando Meads; and well- 
esteemed Horatio Warner, of the Warner Prize. Just the 
year after followed Preston King, a good man who 
weighed two hundred and forty pounds, and whose great 
practical sagacity gave him additional weight in the 
United States Senate; Rufus W. Peckham, no brawn 
and all brain, tall in form and towering in command, not 
lymphatic in any sense, but decidedly emphatic in every 
sense; and Judge William W. Campbell whose genial 
presence is well remembered, and who until recent years 
was a familiar figure at these commencements. 

Union gathered her sons from all sections, and they 
stand for all creeds, all parties, and all influences. If she 
is glorified by those who dedicated themselves to the ser- 
vice of liberty and the defense of the flag, she was not 
without representatives on the other side. One of the 
most picturesque personalities among all the thousands 
that have gone from her halls was Robert Toombs. 



464 UNION COLLEGE. 

Graduated at eighteen, admitted to the bar at twenty, a 
captain in the war against the Creeks, he entered the 
House at thirty-four in 1844, rose to the Senate in 1853, 
and remained to champion the cause of the South in par- 
liamentary struggle till he went out to fight her battles 
on the bloody field. Vehement and impetuous, dogmatic 
and intolerant, extreme in opinion and eloquent in ex- 
pression, with his long mane and his leonine look, he was 
the very Hotspur of slavery and secession. It was in 
keeping with his fiery and imaginative temperament to 
declare that he would call the roll of his slaves on Bunker 
Hill. But for a mere chance he might have been Presi- 
dent of the Confederacy instead of Jefferson Davis. Op- 
pugnant and recalcitrant by nature, he chafed under the 
leadership even of his own cause, and retired sullen and 
intractable. But the pathway of destiny was fixed ; in 
Whittier's phrase, with the finger of the Northern star 
Abraham Lincoln wrote freedom o'er the land ; the tow- 
ering shaft of Bunker Hill, instead of being stained with 
slavery, is a monument to universal American liberty ; 
and a fraternal North and an awakened South clasp 
hands in a restored and regenerated Union. 

For many years the politics of New York were the 
Titanic struggles of the potent Albany Regency and its 
masterly foes. The editor of the "Argus" was Edwin 
Croswell, chaste, classic and careful, revising, refining, 
and polishing his proofs down to the hour of going to 
press. Around him were the sinewy Silas Wright, the 
scholarly John A. Dix, the hard-headed Azariah Flagg, 
and the virile and robust William L. Marcy, who was a 
true American Secretary of State, and who gave the 
country a vigorous and patriotic American policy such 
as we would hail with satisfaction to-day. The battle of 
the Whigs was fought in the "Journal" by Thurlow 
Weed, who, in contrast with the ponderous, heavy- 
mailed Croswell, was preeminent in the short, sharp 



ADDEESS. 465 

rapier thrust that pierced the weak joint in the armor, 
and unhorsed his antagonist with a single stroke. Dif- 
ferent from both was that accomplished son of Union, 
William Cassidy, who, at the head of the " Atlas," com- 
pleted the triumvirate of editorial combatants, and who 
was the free lance in the brilliant tourney. In the con- 
flicts of the Hunkers and the Barnburners, of the Dough- 
faces and the Free Soilers, of the Hard Shells and the 
Soft Shells, he bore the shield of liberalism. A master 
of literature, he was peerless in his attic wit, his literary 
charm, and his epigrammatic force. He lived to mount 
the tribune of his old rival of the " Argus," and to become 
the oracle of a new Regency ; and you will permit one 
who in an humble way was sometimes the victim of his 
glittering blade to drop in passing a little flower of cher- 
ished memory's admiring tribute upon his sacred tomb. 
Time would fail me even to glance at the clear-cut 
and incisive Clarkson Potter, the rollicking Pierson, the 
reticent and sententious Carpenter, and scores of others 
who are worthy of remembrance. But there remains the 
greatest of all. William H. Seward was at once the most 
conspicuous and the most characteristic product of 
Union. He was a favorite of Dr. Nott ; he often sought 
the counsel of his old master; and he embodied and 
typified the teaching which the patriarch of Union im- 
pressed upon his sous. In the galaxy of American states- 
men Seward was a star of the first magnitude. He was 
great in administration, great in forensic power, great in 
diplomacy, great in speculative insight and grasp, great 
in creative and constructive statesmanship. His con- 
summate defense of the poor negro, Freeman, remains 
among the most splendid monuments of legal exposition 
and eloquence. His wonderful series of speeches in the 
Northwest pointed and pictured the destiny of a new 
empire. His mind had the philosophic quality of Jeffer- 
son's, united with a parliamentary power which Jefferson 
30 



466 UNION COLLEGE. 

never possessed. He could soar through the realms of 
abstract reason, and could measure methods by the hard- 
est and most practical tests. Of wider sweep and less 
pragmatic than Sumner, of keener intuitions and loftier 
range than Chase, of finer mold than Wade and broader 
leadership than Hale, he was facile princeps in that re- 
markable and brilliant group of anti-slavery senators 
who represented and quickened the awakened conscience 
of the country in the crucial decade before the war. 

Through all his great career he never lost his attachment 
for Union and for Dr. Nott. His famous speech declaring 
the " irrepressible conflict " between freedom and slavery 
was delivered only after he had advised with his old pre- 
ceptor, so that it may fairly be said the voice of old Union 
was potentially heard in that crucial trial of the nation. 

Seward was as distinctively the leader of his party as 
was ever Jefferson or Clay. He was as clearly marked 
for the Presidency by the right of primacy as was ever 
Clay or Blaine. But his fate was theirs, and hard as it 
seemed at the time, the world has long since recognized 
a Providence in it. He was a better Moses than Joshua. 
His contemplative and optimistic philosophy, which some- 
times approached the visionary, was better adapted to 
lead the nation up to the inevitable culmination than to 
lead it through the stupendous crisis. Destiny deter- 
mined for him a different function and a moderating 
association. It was an Omniscient Hand that overruled 
parties and conventions, and guided and restrained the 
sometimes imaginative and illusory visions of Seward by 
the more untrained statesmanship, but prophetic insight 
and almost divine wisdom, of Abraham Lincoln. And 
never was there a union better fitted to pilot a nation 
through a supreme trial than that which combined the 
masterly dexterity of Seward in diplomacy with the 
serene faith, the matchless tact, and the calm supremacy 
of Lincoln over all. 



ADbKESS. 467 

Union gave a President to the Republic in Chester A. 
Arthur. He had been a master in practical politics — 
too exclusively a master, some thought, when under cir- 
cumstances more distressing to his sensitive nature than 
to any other, he was suddenly summoned to the highest 
place in the nation. If there had been misgivings and 
doubts they speedily vanished, and in the party chieftain 
who had been especially associated in the public mind 
with the violent contentions of New York, the country 
soon came to recognize a most captivating gentleman, a 
most chivalrous and lovely spirit, and a most accom- 
plished and conscientious ruler. He won over a critical 
sentiment, and, through his dignified, manly, and heroic 
service, he left a fragrant memory which is embalmed in 
a new appreciation. 

I have not thought to dwell upon the living; but in 
this presence, without wishing to be invidious, I cannot 
forbear a passing word upon the versatile McElroy, 
who careers with equal skill from politics to poetry ; upon 
the clear-headed Thayer, who served with distinction as 
Minister to Holland ; and upon the sagacious and cour- 
ageous Warner Miller, whose strong judgment and vigor- 
ous leadership have been an inspiration to sound politics 
in New York. It is for the living to emulate the example 
and perpetuate the fame of the dead. Union has a noble 
history and glorious traditions. If she has had some 
shadows, her career is gilded with splendors. Crowned 
with a hundred years of lustrous service, her sons and 
friends have gathered on this centennial anniversary to 
honor and revere her. As they gain new zeal and inspir- 
ation from this return to the venerable halls of Alma 
Mater, so may she derive fresh strength and impulse from 
their enkindling presence; and in the new consecration 
and influences of this historic occasion, may she look 
forward to a long and bright future which shall be worthy 
of her illustrious past. 



COMMENCEMENT DAY. 



30* 



The commencement exercises of the class of 1895, held in the First Pres- 
byterian Church, were immediately followed by the University Celebration. 
In the evening a reception was given at the President's house. The com- 
mencement ball in the Memorial Building closed the festivities of the day. 



THUKSDAY, JUNE TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

Ontijcr^itp Celebration. 
ADDRESS 

BY REV. ELIPHALET NOTT POTTER, D. D., LL. D. 

President of Hobart College. 

MR. PRESIDENT, Gentlemen of the Corporation, 
the Faculty, the AlumDi and their Guests, Ladies 
and Gentlemen : My chosen privilege and appointed 
duty on this happy day is merely informal and introduc- 
tory. Invited to the Chancellorship and also (as your 
Centennial Chairman wrote to Hobart College) to "any 
Centennial title or position " I would " consent to accept," 
previous engagements permit me only to preside on this 
occasion, as " Founder of Union University." 

Your Centennial orator holding with me that compli- 
mentary remarks customary on such occasions may be 
omitted, especially as between brothers, it is, in view of 
the "Episcopal injunction of personalities," a happy fact 
that the Bishop of New York needs no introduction in 
the city or State of New York, or in the United States ; 
and indeed, as I was lately reminded by an authority on 
the other side of the water, he needs no introduction 
abroad, and certainly none therefore at home. 



472 UNION COLLEGE. 

In the old days, when we nine brothers looked out over 
the college parapet from time to time, and from the house 
of our father, Alonzo Potter, one of your vice-presidents, 
or from the neighboring home of our grandfather, Eli- 
phalet Nott, one of your presidents, some of us swarmed 
into the town below, we boys found that old Schenectady 
was called " Dorp," while in the good, old-fashioned fa- 
miliarity of the day they spoke of Henry as Hank. 

Presenting the Rt. Rev. Henry, of New York, to this 
enlightened audience, it is satisfactory in an age of doubt 
to find as a firm foundation, a rock of certainty like the 
fact that no introduction is needed between "Dorp" and 
"Hank "Potter. 

I come from Hobart College bearing salutations. And 
as those who have had the good fortune to have been the 
instructors of distinguished men have tended to take to 
themselves credit for the achievements of their students 
and to claim a share of their success, so to-day in some 
measure this privilege may be mine as I salute you, Presi- 
dent Raymond, as my former pupil as well as my connec- 
tion by marriage and, as your letter of invitation reiter- 
ates, my " friend." 

Hobart in her 70th year saluting Union at her Centen- 
nial, adds greetings all the more cordial, because Union 
seems to have been the quarry where Hobart has sought 
Presidents. Looking lately into her records for the first 
president there named, I discovered (so surely did they 
count on his acceptance and his coming to the lovely 
lake-side collegiate home awaiting him in Geneva) that 
the first to be called "president" in Hobart College 
records was your vice-president, Alonzo Potter. Family 
ties here were too strong to permit his retirement at that 
time from Union College. But I find something to the 
same effect with regard to my brother, the Bishop of New 
York; at least he is one of Hobart's and of your chan- 
cellors ; and among others called to Hobart's presidency 



ADDEESS. 473 

was your gifted alumnus, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Littlejohn. 
The Rt. Rev. Horatio Potter too, another distinguished 
Union man, was called, and wrote proposing to accept 
the presidency of Hobart provided they could await the 
expiration of his previous engagements. And, as show- 
ing further appreciation of Hobart's continued relations 
to Union, one who became president there and has at- 
tained eminence as a Union alumnus, Rev. Dr. Rankine, 
has joined the loyal pilgrimage to this centennial shrine. 
In that family, by a reversed law of heredity, the beauty 
of the mother ascends from the sons to the father, so 
that after half a century, Dean Rankine returning is as 
ruddy as his boys ; Rankines have been both Union and 
Hobart men, and one of them calling on me in Geneva 
last week informed me that his father had gone down to 
Union " to celebrate." When I discovered yesterday that 
he was not at our Hobart commencement although head 
of our Divinity School, and heard the remark, " Dr. Ran- 
kine is still celebrating at Union," you may imagine my 
solicitude. If present to-day will he not rise and, as I 
must in a moment return to duties at home, send by me 
assurances of his welfare to his waiting people and de- 
voted Divinity School ? 

If something more serious is called for as appropriate 
to this occasion, one of Union's alumni suggests for 
mention the happy fact that in opening, yesterday, Ho- 
bart's Memorial Library Building (fire-proof and free from 
debt) in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the 
college, we were, in addition to other gifts and perma- 
nent funds, enabled to announce a further gift connected 
with the Library Building of thirty-five thousand dollars 
as an endowment for its maintenance. So seldom com- 
paratively can we secure such guarantee funds, that this 
is mentioned not only as an example but as an encourage- 
ment to those devoted to the arduous duty of placing 
educational institutions on permanent foundations. 



474 UNION COLLEGE. 

Your Centennial orator, who addressed us eloquently 
at Hobart College yesterday, enjoyed before we were hur- 
ried thence to perform our appointed parts here, the good 
cheer provided by one of my household who helped to 
prepare half a century ago Union's semi-centennial ban- 
quet. It seems that whole burnt offerings made part 
then of Union's sacrifices and feasts, for the tradition 
I understand is endorsed by Moses Viney, whom we re- 
joice to see serving your president to-day. President 
Nott having secured freedom for Moses in the old slavery 
days, Moses served faithfully and was used by the presi- 
dent to point many a lesson and adorn many an instruc- 
tive tale, as your thronging alumni will remember. I 
doubt if Union's alumni fare better at this centennial 
feast than when, half a century ago, Jane Lamey, the 
celebrated chef a la mode to whom I referred above, and 
others prepared for Union's semi-centennial repast the 
above indicated sacrifices (if pagan, none the less tooth- 
some); for, as I am informed, the following adorned that 
hospitable board of fifty years ago : thirty rounds of beef, 
thirty quarters of lamb, twenty-two pieces a la mode, 
twenty-five hams, eighty chickens, and lemonade, etc., 
" ad infinitum," as the erudite mathematician of that day 
boldly added. 

I not only bring from Hobart College greetings, but 
congratulations upon Union's successes. That exquisite 
modesty that characterizes all Union men, that shrinking 
from publicity, is such that if many of us have filled 
places of some prominence, it is because greatness has 
been so thrust upon us that we have been pushed into 
them, and not, as outsiders have proclaimed, because 
" Union men are so pushing." Despite such maiden-like 
modesty, although co-education is as yet unknown among 
us, Union's successes, if unmentionable because of hu- 
mility, are unmistakable because of conspicuity. Be it 
mine to recall them on a future occasion, should the 



ADDRESS. ' 475 

illustrious chairman of your committee, Judge Landon, 
kindly see to it, as now, that in seeking to bring here 
every alumnus, the committee again recall me. Then, 
as has been intimated to me this morning, if the gilded 
undergraduate of that day exclaims at my appearance, 
"Who is that ancient individual representing Hobart?" 
the reply may be, " Only Hank Potter's younger brother 
Liph, who as a boy made mud pies on College Hill, which 
later crystallized, one into the long prophesied central 
Alumni and Memorial Hall, and others into the build- 
ings and funds back of it." 

Gentlemen, Hobart College is also celebrating and com- 
pletes the commemoi'ation of her seventieth year — rather 
a large contract for a small college ; which, however, in 
educational value, equals a " big thing," we believe, if all 
good work and results are duly estimated. With the 
cordial concurrence of the faculty and as a matter of 
inter-collegiate courtesy, Hobart at Union's centennial 
request has changed the day of commencement that I 
might be enabled to participate, as I now gladly do, in this 
culmination of your collegiate and university celebration. 

Arriving and cordially welcomed at midnight, I regret 
that previous engagements so promptly recall me; for 
thus I am estopped from taking by the hand those with 
whom I have been in times past associated here; and 
joining in joyous reunions with pupils, classmates, and 
college-mates, including the rosy-cheeked boy of long 
ago, distinguished among Smiths, and notably for his 
oration here, and yet another who has just favored you, 
your poet well known in editorial circles, and still others 
useful and illustrious in church and State ; while held in 
cherished memory also are those once with us " sed nunc 
ad astra." I regret that I may not meet face to face all 
going to your Centennial and join in your heartiest Union 
cheer and utter personally all best wishes for all of 
Union's sons and friends. 



476 UNION COLLEGE. 

As the long line of Union's illuminati is recalled, there 
rises unbidden to your hearts and lips lines like those of 
the sublime Hebrew seer. Dr. Alexander and others of 
the clergy and laity recognize them as I repeat them 
in the Hebrew ; for as " face answereth face in a glass," 
so the true Union alumnus conforms to that character 
present to the inspired heart of him who said, " Quit 
yourselves like men; be strong." 

It remains but for me to utter brief words — not of an 
introduction which is unnecessary — but of heartfelt as- 
piration : Union College and Union University, one and 
inseparable, now and forever. For the coming century 
and for all the centuries to come, may all best blessings 
rest upon " Old Union." 



CENTENNIAL OEATION 

BY THE RIGHT REV. HENRY C. POTTER, D. D. LL. D, 

Bishop of New York and Honorary Chancellor of the University. 

ME. PRESIDENT, Gentlemen of the Board of Trus- 
tees, and Faculty of Union College, Ladies and 
Gentlemen : I recognize — I say it with sincere gratifica- 
tion — that it has come to be the tradition of this college 
that a collegiate costume shall be associated with the 
exercises of such occasions as this. The example set by 
yourselves, gentlemen of the graduating class, by the 
president of the college, and by my brother who has just 
preceded me, 1 would seem to make it proper that I should 
inflict upon myself this added instrument of torture, the 
cap, in connection with what I am about to say. I think 
you will agree with me, however, that when on this 
tropical summer day, bowing to the supreme authority 
of this college, its president, I have endued myself with 
robes which belong rather to a midwintry season, I may 
be excused from the additional discomfort of wearing, at 
least while I speak to you, an Oxford cap. [Laughter 
and applause.] 

Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees, 

1 The graduating class and the president of the college, as also President 
Potter, of Hobart College, wore college caps and gowns. Bishop Potter was 
himself vested with the scarlet robe and velvet cap of a Doctor of Divinity 
of the University of Oxford. 

477 



478 UNION COLLEGE. 

Gentlemen of the Faculties, Graduates and Undergradu- 
ates, Ladies and Gentlemen : Fifty years ago an alumnus 
and professor of Union College, speaking here in com- 
memoration of its first completed half-century, uttered 
these words : 

"Standing, this morning, midway between the opening and the 
close of the first century of our collegiate history, we feel most 
vividly the power which we have of translating ourselves into 
different periods of time — of multiplying, as it were, our terms 
of life. With our venerable brother " [the speaker was refer- 
ring to the Rev. Joseph Sweetman, the first and, at that time, 
the oldest living graduate of Union College, who had immedi- 
ately preceded him as one of the orators of the day] " we have 
gone back to the feeble beginnings of our college. We have 
trembled at the dangers and have sympathized with the toils and 
trials of those who, through God's good hand, were enabled to 
bring it into life. We turn in thought to the young men who 
are here to-day, as he was here fifty years ago, — undergraduates, 
full of youth, and health, and hope. We go forward with them 
as they leave these halls ; as they do battle with the trials and 
temptations of life ; as they fall, one after another, by the way ; 
till a small remnant, weary and wayworn, with bended forms 
and silvered locks, they come up again at the expiration of an- 
other fifty years, to the great Centennial Jubilee ; and we mingle 
with them as they join the throngs which shall then crowd these 
portals and pour along these streets. Thus, in the oldest and 
youngest of our family, do we seem to see one hundred years of 
college life, with all its manifold vicissitudes, brought within the 
compass of the present hour. We seem to stand at a great 
cross-road in the journey of life, where travelers come from 
different and opposite quarters ; some rushing forward to assume 
the burdens and labors of the way, othei-s advancing with slow 
and feeble step to lay them down. Greetings are exchanged, re- 
ports are made, hopes and fears are uttered, and the crowd dis- 
perses, to lose itself amid the unnumbered multitudes that throng 
life's ways. 1 

l " Semi-centennial discourse of the Eev. Alonzo Potter, D. D., Professor of 
Moral Philosophy in Union College and Bishop-elect of Pennsylvania," page 2. 



CENTENNIAL OEATION. 479 

The speaker who uttered these words, then in the 
prime of his strong and stately manhood, has long since 
fallen asleep, and the venerable president and the asso- 
ciates and contemporaries who then surrounded him 
have, with a single exception, vanished one and all from 
this theater of their common endeavors. The great Cen- 
tennial Jubilee which he then beheld afar has dawned, 
and children, and children's children then unborn, are 
here to-day to keep it. 

As they gather for this greater festival one thought 
must first engross them. We talk of the mutations of 
time, and, in a country still young and but imperfectly de- 
veloped like our own, those changes perpetually challenge 
us. As in the-history of civilization we have the wooden 
age, the stone age, and the iron age, so in the history of 
a community or a college fifty years may not pass with- 
out bringing with them, preeminently in a generation so 
energetic and creative as our own, those external trans- 
formations — structural, mechanical, aesthetic, and artistic 
— of which the last fifty years have been so full. We en- 
counter them here to-day, as we meet them all over the 
land. The Schenectady of this morning with its me- 
chanical industries, with its vast network of steam com- 
munications, with its altered modes of living, is not the 
slumbrous Dutch survival which some among us remem- 
ber so vividly fifty years ago. But when we ascend to 
yonder hill and, passing the portals of the historic " blue 
gate," advance to the college campus, no change in the 
group of buildings that we discover can alter the identity 
of that wider outlook, so rare and beautiful in the charm 
of its expanse, and in the picturesqueness and variety of 
its lovely landscape, which then salutes us. Nature in its 
steadfast and immutable characteristics still remains — 
the silver thread of the winding Mohawk, the break in the 
distant hills, where, long ago, the sun sank to rest, just 
as it sets to-day, the corn standing so thick in the valley 



480 UNION COLLEGE. 

that, in the words of the Psalmist it seems to "laugh 
and sing " ; all these are there, and as the thick-thronging 
memories that they awaken come crowding back upon 
us, once more we are young and blithe again, and the 
future lies at our feet. 

I am not sure that it would be well for us if it did, or 
that if one who has come here to-day with his half cen- 
tury of memories could by some magic make himself 
young again, and take his place with those who will this 
morning go forth from their alma mater to face the con- 
flicts of the world, he would find himself equal to his 
tasks or happy in his surroundings. For no sooner are we 
sensible, here or elsewhere, of the permanence of nature, 
than we are constrained to remember the inevitable and 
tremendous transformations of circumstances. This is a 
centennial anniversary, and our retrospect this morning 
carries us back not fifty merely, but one hundred years. 
A century ago ! Do we realize what was the Republic of 
1795, and how vastly it differed from the Republic of 
1895? Less than a decade, then, had passed since our 
country had achieved its independence. Less than twenty 
years had then elapsed since these American seaboard 
States (there were then none others) were colonies of 
Great Britain. A sparsely-settled country, a people of 
narrow means and meager resources of every kind, a life 
that forbade leisure and equally forbade luxury, a long, 
hard struggle, in the vast majority of instances, just to 
survive the hardships and privations of a new country, 
communities almost wholly without roads, or cities, or 
libraries, or arts, or manufactures, or commerce, — social 
and domestic conditions often so primitive and elementary 
that, if we were to reproduce them to-day, they would seem 
all but unendurable to the softer manners of our more luxu- 
rious age, — these were the conditions from amid which the 
youth of 1795 turned their faces toward this home of learn- 
ing, and sought for the equipment which it offered them. 



CENTENNIAL OKATION. 481 

And just because it was so, it would not have been 
strange if the culture which here was offered to them 
had taken on the characteristics which those more primi- 
tive times seemed so imperatively to demand. If, instead 
of the ordinary curriculum of a college, as we are wont to 
think of it, its classical and literary, as well as its mathe- 
matical and scientific training, the Union College of a cen- 
tury ago had set to work to teach its undergraduates how 
to plow and sow and reap ; how to build fences and bridges 
and roads ; how to make tools and use them ; how to rear 
mills and run them ; how to create traffic and promote it 
— how clever such a method would have seemed to the 
men of this day, however it may have appeared to its 
contemporaries. It is, as it seems to me, the glory of 
your alma mater, sons of Union College, that it did not ! 
I do not know how it may appear to others, but there 
must surely be, to one who looks at it in its wider signifi- 
cance, something singularly noble in the spectacle of 
those few men who organized this college, and, in the 
midst of conditions as hard and incongruous as those 
which I have described, set it to teaching that "polite 
learning," as it was then called, which so wisely included 
not alone the mechanic arts, the physical sciences, and 
those other branches of learning which are directly con- 
nected with the material conditions under which men 
earn their bread, but always, along with these, those 
higher branches of learning which unsealed the realm 
of letters which bridged the intervening centuries be- 
tween the Republic of America and the Republic of 
Greece, and which gave to human life the charm and 
beauty of art and poetry and literature. They saw, those 
men of the elder times, with a fine and unerring percep- 
tion, that life is always tending, just because of the in- 
exorable and ever-recurring wants of the body, to become 
sordid and unaspiring and material, and therefore, over 
against the pressure of its lower needs they would fain 
31 



482 UNION COLLEGE. 

set the temple of a loftier ideal, and fill it with the 
images of the great and good of every age. It may 
never have occurred to you to consider the fact, but cer- 
tainly it has in it a profound significance, that in an age 
when, far more than in our own, with its ampler resources 
and its larger leisure, other knowledge than the know- 
ledge how to get bread out of the ground, or ore out of a 
mine, was not the primary want, such knowledge did 
not seem to the founders of this college a stupid imperti- 
nence. A friend sent me the other day a copy of the 
oration delivered by the Valedictorian of his class on the 
first commencement day of this college, just ninety-nine 
years ago. I wish the limits of this occasion permitted 
me to quote from its lofty and eloquent periods. From 
exordium to peroration they were distinguished by a 
felicity of phrase and an aptness of classical allusion 
that showed a study of great models and a style instinct 
with the best learning. And yet the men who graduated 
then, oftener than otherwise, took away such fine culture 
as they acquired here to scenes and tasks which were 
most unfriendly to it. Unless they could prize it for its 
own sake, it served them at best but poorly. But they 
did prize it for its own sake, even as for its own sake 
they had first of all come to seek it ! 

The contrast which salutes us to-day is at once curious 
and paradoxical. The century that has passed since this 
college was founded has produced undreamed-of changes 
in our whole social situation. . One single illustration of 
this, which touches directly the conditions of college life, 
will answer as well as an hundred. A century ago the 
average annual expenditure of an undergraduate in col- 
lege was, I apprehend, rather under than over two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. To-day — at any rate in the 
greater colleges — it is, I apprehend, much nearer one 
thousand dollars ; and there are large numbers of under- 
graduates whose annual expenditure is more than twice 



CENTENNIAL OBATLON. 483 

as much as this. Now, when we have made all possible 
allowance for the difference between then and now in 
the purchasing power of money, the fact still remains 
that such an increase implies a vast increase in the 
wealth of the constituencies which are represented in 
our college. As to this, as a matter of fact, there can be 
no doubt ; and it would seem as if such a change ought 
to have brought with it a wider and more general esteem 
for those departments of learning which are the especial 
distinction of nations in a high state of civilization and 
prosperity, with vast resources and a constantly increas- 
ing cultivated class. But, as a matter of fact, the present 
tendency in colleges seems to be in quite an opposite di- 
rection. More and more is it coming to be accepted as 
an academic tradition, so to speak, that a man may take 
a degree as Bachelor of Arts without having acquired 
even an elementary knowledge of the two great languages 
which, more than any others, contain the choicest literary 
treasures of the world ; and this change has come to pass, 
more largely than for any other reason, because such 
knowledge is claimed to be of very secondary value, if of 
any, in the practical business of our modern life. 

I may not argue that question here, open though it 
most surely is to argument ; but it suggests another with 
which such an anniversary as this is preeminently con- 
cerned. We have come to-day to a point in the history 
of this college when we may wisely pause and " look be- 
fore and after." A hundred years of collegiate life — to 
what are they the witnesses, — of what are they the 
prophecy ! There is a conception of such an institution 
as this, which is at once prevalent and popular, but 
which, as I conceive, falls far below its highest use and 
purpose. A college, we are told, is a place where men 
acquire certain branches of higher learning, and store 
their minds with certain phrases and formula which will be 
of use to them in the various businesses of life. I just as 



48-t UNION COLLEGE. 

in a school of pharmacy the pupil learns of certain sub- 
stances, their properties, proportions, and relations in 
combination with each other, out of which come certain 
remedial agencies used in the science of therapeutics, 
so in a college words, signs, facts are to be stored away 
in the luind, and taken down from time to time from 
their shelves, as the occasion may require, for practical 
service. That this description of a widely prevalent 
conception of the office of a college is not a purely im- 
aginary one is strikingly confirmed by a passage in 
Schopenhauer's essay " On Men of Learning," which 
some of you will doubtless recognize, " When," he says, 
" one sees the number and variety of institutions which 
exist for the purpose of education, and the vast throng 
of scholars and masters, one might fancy the human race 
to be very much concerned about truth and wisdom. But 
here, too, appearances are deceptive. . . . Students and 
learned persons of all sorts aim, as a rule, at acquiring in- 
formation rather than insight. They pique themselves 
about knowing about everything, — stones, plants, battles, 
experiments, and all the books in existence. It never 
occurs to them that information is only a means of in- 
sight, and in itself of little or no value ; that it is his way 
of thinking that makes a man a philosopher. When I 
hear of these portents of learning, and their imposing 
erudition, I sometimes say to myself, ' Ah, how little 
they must have had to think about to be able to read so 
much.' And when I actually find that it is reported of 
the elder Pliny that he was continually reading, or being 
read to, at table, on a journey, or in his bath, the ques- 
tion forces itself upon my mind whether the man was so 
very lacking in thought that he had to have others' 
thought incessantly instilled into him, as though he were 
a consumptive patient taking jellies to keep himself 
alive ! And neither his undi seeming credulity nor his 
inexpressibly repulsive style, which seems like that of a 



CENTENNIAL OKATION. 485 

man taking notes and very economical of his paper, are 
of a kind to give me a high estimate of his power of in- 
dependent thought." J 

There may be two opinions about Schopenhauer's 
judgment concerning the style and the substance of 
Pliny, but there can be only one as to the eternal dis- 
tinction between the two types of students and scholars 
of which Pliny was plainly one. That distinction which 
Frederick Maurice somewhere makes between acquisition 
and illumination lies at the foundation of all learning, 
and inevitably determines its character. There is a learn- 
ing which is simply an accumulation of various and, it 
may easily be, curious, and recondite, and hardly- won 
information. It is of such learning that Schopenhauer 
elsewhere says "the wig" [the old, full-bottomed, curled 
and beribboned wig he means, such as judges and 
bishops wore a century ago], "is the appropriate symbol 
of the man of learning, pure and simple. It adorns the 
head with a copious quantity of false hair, in lack of 
one's own, just as erudition means endowing it with a 
great mass of alien thought." 2 The figure is grotesque, 
perhaps, but the idea behind it is undisputably true. 
The scholar, in the highest sense of the term, is one to 
whom an accumulation of learning is not simply the stor- 
ing of his reservoirs, but accumulation for the quickening 
of thought and for the large and beneficent activities of 
daily service. And the nature of that service, and the 
character of its influence, will be largely determined by 
the spirit in which the student acquires his learning, and 
the use which he aims to make of it. 

Let us try and understand ourselves here, and that we 
may do so, let me try and state as clearly as I may the 
situation as it confronts us. There are between sixty 
and seventy millions of people in this land to-day, and 

1 " On Men of Learning," p. 51. 

2 " The Art of Literature," pages 49, 50. 

31* 



486 UNION COLLEGE. 

of these I presume it would be quite safe to say that not 
five in five hundred are, or ever will be, college grad- 
uates. A much larger proportion of them will undoubt- 
edly have had the rudiments of a common school educa- 
tion, and a very considerable proportion of these, owing 
to the pressure of daily wants, the disabling conditions 
of their surroundings and other kindred circumstances, 
will early have fallen out of the habit of reading any 
other than the most ephemeral and often mentally de- 
bilitating literature, and equally out of the habit of 
thinking into and through the grave social, political, and 
personal questions which challenge one almost daily. I 
know that I am saying something here which will be dis- 
tasteful to many, and which, from others, will provoke 
impatient and contemptuous denial. It will be said, for 
instance, that the average of intelligence among the 
American people is higher than anywhere else in the 
world; that the clear vision of the less highly educated 
classes is continually demonstrating itself in its singu- 
larly unerring instinct for the right in great moral and 
political issues, and that to think or speak of the large 
and less cultivated majority as at all representing an 
ignorant European peasantry is at once a slander and a 
stupidity. I gladly believe it, but I believe, no less, that 
the influence of educated men upon men who are but 
partially educated has never been greater than to-day, 
and is destined to be greater still. And this is the case, 
let me add, just because our average American citizen 
who is not a college graduate, while often unequal to pro- 
found or acute original thinking, is nevertheless be- 
coming more and more trained to recognize the charac- 
teristics and often the force of the processes of such 
reasoning, and to be increasingly influenced by them. 
Max Nordau says, in his striking work on " Degenera- 
tion," that to-day every German peasant who buys a 
penny paper puts himself thereby in touch with the in- 



CENTENNIAL OEATION. 487 

terests and sufferings and fears and aspirations, through 
its telegraphic columns, of the whole civilized world. l 
Yes, but who is to guide him so to interpret the larger 
significance of what he reads as to make of him a better 
citizen and a better man! It is here, as I conceive, ladies 
and gentlemen, that the office of the true scholar appears. 
You may exclaim against social and personal inequalities 
as you please. The time will never come when a man 
who has not merely learned certain chemical combina- 
tions so that he can manufacture a fertilizer, or certain 
mathematical combinations so that he can build a rail- 
road, but has also learned what made a little peninsula 
in the Adriatic the mistress of the world, or how Roman 
law became the basis of the jurisprudence of Christen- 
dom, or how the fall of empires was foreshadowed in 
the " Republic " of Plato, or how the growth of a corrupt 
and privileged ecclesiasticism brought about the trans- 
formation of modern Europe ; the time will never come, 
I say, when the man who has learned these things, not 
with a parrot-like learning, but in the length and breadth 
of their vast and enduring significance, will not be, in 
every highest sense, the master of him who has not. He 
may not be as rich, as adroit, as aggressive, as appar- 
ently successful. He may be overlooked and forgotten 
in the mad scramble for place or power, or in the vulgar 
contentions of a political convention. But sooner or 
later will come the moment when inferior men, helpless 
and groping in their ignorance, will be compelled to listen 

1 The humblest village inhabitant has to-day a wider geographical hori- 
zon, more numerous and complex intellectual interests, than the Prime 
Minister of a petty or even of a second-rate State a century ago. If he do 
but read his paper, let it be the most innocent provincial rag, he takes part, 
certainly not by active interference and inference, but by a continuous and 
receptive curiosity, in the thousand events which take place in all parts of 
the globe, and he interests himself simultaneously in the issue of a bush-war 
in East Africa, a massacre in North China, a famine in Russia, a street-row 
in Spain, and an international exhibition in North America. "Degenera- 
tion." Max Nordau, p. 39. 



488 UNION COLLEGE. 

to him, just as men of meaner mold were compelled once, 
and again and again, to listen to Lincoln, — graduate of 
no university, it is true, but, from the hour when, a long, 
ungainly lad, he lay before the fire in his father's cabin, 
reading by the light of a pine-knot, all the way on, a 
devourer of books, an insatiate learner and student, 
reader and thinker and seer as well. 

And thus, I conceive, we are prepared to see the place 
which the college ought to fill in our social economy to- 
day, and the influence which those who are bred in it 
should exert. It should be the training-school not merely 
of learners, but of thinkers, and the men whom it gradu- 
ates should be the leaders not merely in successful enter- 
prise and in purely technical ability, but in those sounder 
ideas of civic and social and moral order, of which the 
greatest nations have yet so much to learn. I do not 
forget the fine disdain which exists among us in certain 
quarters toward the " scholar in politics," nor the impa- 
tience of its criticisms, — of which disdain, unless I am 
mistaken, you have, here, had quite unstinted expression 
on occasions similar to this. But the scholar, happily 
for the betterment of the state, however little the ring- 
masters and office-holders happen to like it, persists in 
obtruding himself into politics, as into all other burning 
questions, and turns the eye of his pitiless lantern of 
truth upon partizan leaders, and placemen with equal 
and searching impartiality. Have you ever thought 
what would become of us if he did not ? Have you ever 
dared to sit down and imagine what ignorance and cu- 
pidity, mated to an unscrupulous lust of power, would 
do with the Republic, if it were not for some clear voice 
of warning, which, from time to time, lifts its penetrating 
note, names the insolent defier of the eternal equities, 
paints the infamy of his conduct, and pursues him with 
relentless denunciation! We have had our modern 
Elijah, lately, in the great metropolis, yonder, facing the 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 489 

modern Ahab of Tammany Hall as he sneered, "Art 
thou he that troubleth Israel ? " and answering, as of old, 
" I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's 
house ! " And we sleep easier in New York because of 
his brave and splendid crusade. Does anybody think 
that that crusade was a less effective one because Dr. 
Parkhurst was a college graduate ? Nay, does not every 
intelligent man know that that clear and vigorous and 
acute mind, — yet to light, I hope, the " back fires " that 
will burn up all the rubbish of " bossism " throughout the 
commonwealth, — does not every one know that this 
fearless leader was just so much better equipped for his 
great task because of his wider reading of history and 
the finer training of all his mental powers ? 

Never, indeed, was there an age when the state de- 
manded of its sons, in whatever relation they are to serve 
it, a larger culture or a riper learning. The dangers that 
assail us to-day are, after all, as a very limited reading 
will demonstrate, but the reappearance of old foes in a 
new guise. There is not a political, or social, or economic 
heresy of which you may not find the prophecy and the 
prototype in the pages of a nearer or remoter past. We 
break the molds in which society organizes itself, we 
dethrone the monarch and fling away his scepter, but 
the peril of officialism forever remains ; and the insolent 
pride of office needs forever to be taught, sharply and 
humblingly, it may be, — all the way from chief magis- 
trate to policeman, — that our rulers and office-holders 
are the servants, not the masters, of the people. And the 
men who are to lead in these reforms, — the men whose 
right it is to lead, as dealing with a situation which has 
in it no novelty to them, — are the men who are ordained 
to be " men of leading," because they are first of all " men 
of light." 

And this not only in the realm of civic and political 
problems, but also in that wider realm which includes 



490 UNION COLLEGE. 

our whole social order, and touches all the complex rela- 
tions that bind together a civilized society. Here again 
as before, we find that a reconstruction of the form under 
which such a society exists does not free it from the 
perils which have threatened other and older nations and 
communities. We have no landed aristocracy, for in- 
stance, in America, but we have forms of associated 
wealth which have seemed to many people who are not 
at all alarmists quite as formidable and dangerous. How 
to harmonize these, and how, above all, to disseminate a 
sound social and political economy among people who 
are easily misled by a doctrine of socialism which, in 
correcting one set of evils, threatens to create others 
even more dangerous and destructive in their tendencies, 
— this, surely, must be the office of men who have read 
history widely and deeply, who have informed themselves 
as to the origin and beginnings of socialistic movements, 
all the way from Athenian communism, down through 
the story of the Hebrew theocracy, — the societies, as we 
should call them, of the Essenes and the Therapeutce, — 
on through the monastic life of the middle ages, until, 
in the sixteenth century (1516), Sir Thomas More pub- 
lished his "Utopia," and in our own century, Robert 
Owen, and Saint-Simon, and Lamennais gave to the 
world their more or less crude conception of an ideal 
state. To be ignorant of these things, of all that they 
stand for, and of the truths and fallacies so curiously in- 
termingled, which they severally illustrate, is to be 
largely disqualified even for intelligently discussing, 
much more effectually attempting to solve, the problems 
which to-day increasingly challenge us. Here is the 
scholar's true place, and here, brethren and fathers of 
Union College, will be some of the noblest opportunities 
of the men who go forth from yonder halls. 

And this, most of all, because this college has always 
stood, and I pray God may ever continue to stand, as the 



CENTENNIAL OEATION. 491 

nursery, not alone of a sound learning, but also as the 
home of a truly philosophic and reflective temper, — a 
temper touched and ennobled by the highest of all sanc- 
tions, — the person and the message of Jesus Christ. 
The spirit of the greatest Teacher whom the world has 
ever known, a Teacher both human and divine, was 
early invoked here, and has been the dominant spell in 
the noblest minds and lives that the history of this col- 
lege has known. It was called Union College, unless I 
have been misinformed, because, in a generation con- 
spicuous for marked denominational differences, it was 
meant to stand for a larger and more comprehensive 
spirit. The leading institutions of learning in this land, 
a century ago, stood mainly for various partial aspects 
of Christian truth or ecclesiastical order, which it is no 
disrespect to them to describe as exclusive rather than 
inclusive. The men who were reared in them were 
mainly the sons of those who, from strong conviction or 
inherited belief, held somewhat stiffly not merely to a 
particular faith, but to a distinctive order. It was the 
especial distinction of Union College that it allied 
itself to no single fellowship, in these particulars, but 
had an equal welcome for pupils of whatever tradi- 
tion. As little did it disparage strenuous conviction in 
these directions, or discourage its expression. What has 
lately, and slowly, come to be the prevalent usage of 
other institutions in this regard was, unless I am mis- 
taken, the rule of this college from the beginning. Each 
youth was taught to respect the convictions in which he 
had been reared, and left free to believe and to worship 
in accordance with them. But, as recognizing that 
greater is the spirit than the form or symbol through 
which it finds expression, there presided from the be- 
ginning here a wide-minded and reverent faith, pro- 
foundly concerned rather for the fundamental verities, 
and constantly illustrating their transfonning power. 



492 UNION COLLEGE. 

Such words you will say, perhaps, are mere generali- 
ties, and it is easy to indulge in generalities. Bear with 
me then, for a few moments longer, if I attempt at once 
to interpret and justify them by some illustrative per- 
sonal reminiscences. I am not, with a single exception, 
familiar enough with the earlier history of Union College 
to recall the men who were first conspicuous in deter- 
mining its character and creating its just renown ; nor 
may I venture to deal with its later annals in any purely 
judicial spirit. But taking these hundred years as a 
whole, there are, I venture to think, four names which, if 
not preeminent among those who have influenced the 
growth and determined what is most characteristic in 
the history and development of this college, are repre- 
sentative of those who have largely affected both, and 
who may be, at any rate, accepted as typical of what, for 
want of a better word, I may call the genius of the col- 
lege, — I mean Eliphalet Nott, Alonzo Potter, Isaac W. 
Jackson, and Tayler Lewis. I am embarrassed, as you 
will readily anticipate, by personal ties connecting me 
with two of these names, but not thereby, I hope, wholly 
disqualified from estimating them with at least a moder- 
ate impartiality. Concerning the other two, I am hap- 
pily free to speak without restraint or reserve. 

One of them carries me back to childish days, — for, 
alas, I was never, myself, his pupil who bore it, — and has 
to do with impressions which are among the earliest that 
the mind can receive. There is no lad within the sound 
of my voice, — there is no man who is not so unfortunate 
as wholly to have forgotten the impressions of childhood, 
who will not tell you that they concerned, first of all, those 
things that strike the eye and the ear, and that awaken, 
on the one hand or the other, fear or affection. And so I 
apprehend that no youth who can remember him at all 
will ever be able to disassociate Professor Jackson from 
that impression of soldierly precision, and that aspect 



CENTENNIAL OKATION. 493 

and manner of almost military brevity and abruptness, 
which were the first characteristics in him that revealed 
themselves. They created at once their own atmosphere, 
and built up, inevitably, a fixed tradition which no less 
inevitably found familiar expression in a titular designa- 
tion which will live in the memory of the men who were 
so fortunate as to be his pupils as long as they remember 
anything. But no less vivid in the memory of these 
pupils, I am persuaded, as in the memory of all who 
genuinely knew him, will be the recollection of those 
other qualities, so marked and so engaging, which pre- 
eminently determined his character. I remember to have 
heard it said once, in connection with Professor Jackson's 
devotion to all that was beautiful in trees, shrubs, plants, 
and flowers, that it seemed to be a very odd thing that a 
professor of mathematics should find his chief delight in 
the creation of a beautiful garden ; but in fact it was this 
harmony of opposite tastes and characteristics which 
made him always so delightful a companion and so in- 
teresting a personality. But not this alone. His fine 
taste, his scientific knowledge, his rare energy, were all 
dominated by a singular elevation and nobility of temper 
which assured all men of his incorruptible integrity, and 
which made him a power for all that was best. Like the 
science which he loved so well and taught so ably, he 
was an exact man ; and rectitude, a life ordered upon a 
right line, distinguished all that he was and did. In a 
thousand unconscious ways his pupils felt and recognized 
this, and so he stood here, during all his long and distin- 
guished service as a professor in this college, for that 
which must forever be a part of the structural foun- 
dations of character, the right, and the eternal right- 
eousness. 

Another there was, cast in a different mold, and exer- 
cising by his pen, as well as by his voice and presence, 
an influence felt far beyond these immediate limits, and 



494 UNION COLLEGE. 

felt increasingly to the end. In Professor Tayler Lewis 
were united in a rare degree the gifts of the thinker and 
the seer. His clear and luminous mind penetrated always 
to the heart of things, and a rare felicity of statement 
made him a teacher in the best sense of the word. All 
over this land, to-day, there are men who can look back 
and remember how, in more than one direction, his acute 
and vigorous intellect gave to their best powers their 
earliest and most distinctive impulse, and how the charm 
of his picturesque presence, and the beautiful transpar- 
ency of his most engaging and lovable personality, made 
them in love with beauty, and goodness, and truth, wher- 
ever it might reveal itself. 

Still another there was of whom I may scarcely ven- 
ture to speak at all, and yet concerning whom you will 
as little expect me to keep silent. When in the year 1814, 
a Quaker lad, no older than the century, entered Union 
College, he little dreamed with how large a part of his 
life it was to be bound up, nor how large a debt he was 
to owe it. Later generations will declare whether or no 
he at all discharged that debt ; but no one of his contem- 
poraries will be reluctant, I imagine, to own that, what- 
ever were the obligations of Alonzo Potter to Union 
College, he gave to it in return some of the best years 
and most helpful services of a rare and noble life. Gifted 
above most men of his day and calling, with a singularly 
wide range of vision and a very high and sacred sense 
of the teacher's calling, he touched few lives without lift- 
ing them to a loftier conception at once of the privileges 
and the responsibilities of educated men. A great teacher 
himself, he was a greater disciple of the truth, however 
revealed. Wherever it led he was ready to follow, and 
with sympathies as large and generous as were his intel- 
lectual endowments, the motto of Terence, "Homo sum: 
Immani nihil a me alienum puto? was as true of all that he 
was and did as if it had been his own. He loved this 



CENTENNIAL OEATION. 495 

college with a tender and inextinguishable love, and 
much of its most enduring fame will be bound up with 
his name and services. 

And he whose son, if not in the flesh yet most truly in 
the spirit, he was, — the man to whom more than any 
other in all its history this college is preeminently in- 
debted, — do I need even to name him ! There was a time 
when " Union College " and " Eliphalet Nott " were con- 
vertible terms. There will never come a time, when all 
that is best and greatest in its achievements will not be 
indissolubly bound up with his life and work. He could 
say of the college, in the highest sense of the words, what 
a Roman emperor could say of his capital, — that "he 
came and found it of wood, and left it of marble." Step 
by step, vestigia nulla retrorsum, he lifted it out of its pro- 
vincial obscurity, and gave to it a name and a fame 
throughout the land. A young man, and an old man elo- 
quent, he was without the rashness of the one or the 
acerbity of the other. Of singular wisdom and penetra- 
tion, he was adorned by a no less singular patience and 
gentleness. Of a humor so delightful and so unique that 
the traditions of it are as fresh to-day as they were a half- 
century ago, he was as incapable of a word that could 
wound, or malign, as he was of a thought that was base 
or mean. A teacher of almost unequaled charm in the 
classroom, he was a counselor of matchless and unerring- 
wisdom for all sorts and conditions of men, outside it. 
The helper and defender of the friendless, the pioneer in 
every good and noble cause, however despised or forlorn, 
his heart was as young at fourscore as when he was 
himself a stripling; and love of his " boys," as he forever 
called them, as tender and inextinguishable at the end 
as at the beginning. Who will undertake to count the 
lives he touched and kindled and ennobled, or to reckon 
the men, in every possible rank and calling of life, to 
whom his counsels and his maxims were guiding prin- 



496 UNION COLLEGE. 

ciples, never to be forgotten ! Great teacher, great leader, 
great administrator, but, greatest of all, true father of all 
his sons ! 

My friend and brother, 1 if I may venture so to call you, 
I congratulate you that yours is the rare privilege of 
following men like these. The man of rectitude, the 
man of vision, the man of large and comprehensive sym- 
pathies, and, presiding over them all, the man of paternal 
wisdom and of a child-like and Christ-like benignity — 
surely these are types which you and all of us may well 
be glad to remember to-day. They stand for that spirit 
and purpose which have most of all made this college a 
power for God and for good. May they never fade out 
of these scenes ; and may they find in your administra- 
tion new and nobler illustration ! You come to your 
large tasks under happy auguries, and with a wide and 
generous sympathy on every hand to cheer you forward ! 
May your work here be worthy of the eminent gifts 
which you have elsewhere revealed, and of the high and 
unselfish devotion which, hitherto, has adorned your use 
of them. The clouds are past, and a new era begins to 
dawn once more for your beloved alma mater. May it 
shine more and more into the perfect day ! 

Graduates and Undergraduates, Ladies and Gentle- 
men, I end, as I began, with other words than my own. 
Speaking for the last time amid these scenes, the orator 
of fifty years ago breathed out of a full heart this aspira- 
tion for Union College — it is the prayer of his children 
and of his children's children to-day : 

" Honored parent, heretofore you have been the abode 
of religious toleration — may you be so still ! Thus far 
you have been the nursery of free spirits, of a compre- 
hensive and large-minded, but reverent philosophy — 
thus may it always be. Here has paternal kindness and 
forbearance ever tempered the exercise of authority, and 

1 Addressed to President Kaymond, 



CENTENNIAL OKATION. 497 

a wakeful parental vigilance been applied to the forming 
of youthful character. Be it never otherwise ! And, 
when the term of fifty years has again rolled away, and 
your children, and your children's children, even to the 
fifth and sixth generation, shall come back to celebrate 
your praise and write up your records, may it be found 
that this is then the home of brave and true men — of 
men braver, truer, and holier than we; that better and 
wiser spirits have risen to direct your counsels, and that 
a higher scholarship and a deeper sanctity are sending 
forth from these shrines rich blessings on the world." 1 

1 "Semi-centennial discourse of Be v. Alonzo Potter, D. D.," pp. 28, 29. 



32 



" 



REGISTRATION. 



REGISTRATION 

OF 

GRADUATES, GUESTS, AND OTHERS ATTENDING 
THE COMMEMORATION. 

[The following names appear on the college register as those of persons present 
during the Centennial, except the names unnumbered, which are of persons 
whose presence at the Centennial is vouched for by Mr. R. C. Alexander, of the 
Class of 1880. The register entry has been exactly copied in each case, so that 
spelling of name, initials, residence, and occupation appear as given by the 
signer] : 

UNION COLLEGE. 
1897. 

Reg. No. 

446 O'Neill, J. A., Schenectady Med. Student. 

1895. 

512 Baker, C. Laurance, Comstocks Stock Breeder. 

432 Burtis, Arthur, U. S. Navy 

427 Harder, H. D., Castleton 

425 Schermerhorn, N. I., Schenectady Accountant. 

1894. 

94 Auchampaugh, E. L., Delanson Medicine. 

66 Beckwith, N., Stissing, N. Y Student. 

415 Braman, Ashley J., Schenectady, N. Y. . . .Journalist. 

384 Cooke, H. L., Cooperstown, 

119 Gilmour, Robt. F., Schenectady, N. Y . . . . Electrical Student. 

437 Gregory, C. E., Coxsackie, N. Y Civil Engineer. 

345 Lansing, R. A., New Brunswick 

439 Lawton, W. L., Albany, N. Y Civil Engineer. 

38 Lynes, G. Briggs, Middleburgh, N. Y Student. 

450 Miller, Guy H., Herkimer, N. Y 

33 Smith, Chas. R., Tioga, Pa Med. Student, 

32* 501 



502 UNION COLLEGE. 

Reg. No. 

34 Smith, George V., Tioga, Pa Law Student. 

313 Veeder, James W., Schenectady, N. Y. . . . 

395 Veeder, N. I., Schenectady Business. 

36 Van Beusekom, R., Jr., McKownville Med. Student. 

498 Van Schaick, John, Jr., Cobleskill, N. Y.. . 

1893. 

126 Cooper, Frank, Schenectady, N. Y 

122 Clowe, C. W., New Brunswick, N. J Theology. 

511 Conde, Edwin G., Schenectady Reporter. 

39 Cromer, Wm. F., Schenectady, N. Y Sec. Y. M. C. A. 

444 Crane, Fred., Montclair, N. J Student. 

476 Esselstyn, Henry H., Brooklyn 

48 Fairlee, Alvah, Schenectady Law Student. 

338 Field, C. W., Clyde 

461 Grupe, F. W., Schenectady, N. Y 

153 Hoxie, Geo. H., Cambridge, N. Y Teacher. 

11 Hughes, George T., New York Journalist. 

121 Kline, H. S., Amsterdam Attorney. 

416 Lines, E. D., Jamestown Business. 

261 Merchant, H. D., Nassau, N. Y 

78 Morey, John R., Schenectady Teacher. 

101 Perkins, Roger G., Schenectady, N. Y. . . Medicine. 

321 Pike, Emory Edward, Johnstown, N. Y. . . Insurance. 

192 Raymond, H. S., Waterloo, Iowa Business. 

314 Van Alstyne, H. A., Rochester, N. Y Civil Engineer. 

449 Van Zandt, Burton, Schenectady 

1892. 

256 Coons, Edw. S., Ballston Spa 

252 Conant, Howard, Waverley, N. Y 

32 Dougall, Arthur, Berlin, Md., Minister. 

137 Furbeck, George H., Gloversville Physician. 

77 Mosher, Gouverneur F.,Middletown, Conn. Divinity Student. 

3 Orr, Alex., Gloversville, N. Y Glove Manufacturer. 

127 Sebring, Lewis Beck, Schenectady, N. Y. . Civil Engineer. 
480 Trumbull, C. W., Cleveland, Teacher. 

93 Wemple, J. V., Schenectady Clergyman. 

1891. 

257 Briggs, Henry Ward, Wilmington, Del. . . . Physician. 

394 Burr, John W., Gloversville, N. Y Lawyer. 

412 Clements, Robt., Cuba, N. Y Clergyman. 

40 Dewey, James E., Fort Plain, N. Y 



REGISTRATION. 503 

Beg. No. 

176 Ferguson, Jaines W., Amsterdam, N. Y. . . Lawyer. 

507 Fiske, Chas., Jr., GloversviHe, N. Y Civil Eng. 

247 Gibson, H. P., Schenectady, N. Y 

245 Little, Beekman C, Rochester Civil Engineer. 

492 McDonald, W. A., GloversviHe, N. Y Lawyer. 

246 Walker, Thomas L., Schenectady 

1890. 
65 Bennett, John Ira, Jr., Chicago, 111 Teacher. 

319 Carroll, Fred Linus, Johnstown, N. Y. . . .Lawyer. 
208 Clute, George H., Albany, N. Y 

487 Comstock, F. L., Ballston Spa Architect. 

62 Fish, Norman D., Tonawanda Lawyer. 

75 Knox, John C, Schenectady Minister. 

56 Mosher, H. T., Schenectady Instructor. 

74 Schwilk, Elisha T., New York City Medicine. 

320 Stewart, Geo. C, Amsterdam Lawyer. 

462 Wright, Arthur B.. New York City Physician. 

1889. 

125 Cameron, Leroy L., St. Paul Clergyman. 

244 Carroll, Edward T., Amsterdam, N. Y Clergyman. 

506 Dorlon, Philip S., Troy, N. Y Electrical Eng. 

493 Fairgrieve, G. W., Coxsackie ; 84 and 89 . . Teacher. 

286 Flanigan, C. H., Albany, N. Y Engineer. 

191 Hanson, J. EL, Amsterdam Lawyer. 

207 Moore, Tom, Schenectady 

243 Nolan, Michael D., Troy, N. Y Lawyer. 

322 Shaw, Charles F., Albany, N. Y Merchant, 

84 Smith, Max M., M. D., New York City . . . Physician. 

458 Snow, J. B., Tonawanda, N. Y Civil Engineer. 

82 Simpson, J. L., Elbridge, N. Y Teacher. 

283 Whalen, J. L., New York City Civil Engineer. 

1888. 

483 Baker, Geo. C, Comstocks Attorney. 

Cole, Philip H., Schenectady Professor. 

343 Cumings, H. P., Schenectady Instructor. 

70 Davis, C. Schuyler, Duluth, Minn Lawyer. 

181b Dillingham, A. J., Schenectady, N. Y Lawyer. 

190 Kennedy, William L., Jr., New York N. Y. Stock Exchange. 

227 King, Louis M., Schenectady Lawyer. 

383 Ishkanian, Antranig T., New York City Physician. 

228 Lewis, Frank D., Amsterdam Business. 



504 UNION COLLEGE. 

Reg. No. 

359 Little, S. W., Rochester, N. Y Physician. 

422 Mclntyre, Joseph W., Glenville Clergyman. 

206 Stevenson, M. D., Albany, N. Y Physician. 

59 Winne, J. Edgar, Kingston, N. Y Minister. 

1887. 

35 Bennett, Alden L., Waltham, Mass Clergyman. 

372 Bridge, Chas. F., Albany Lawyer. 

266 Cameron, Edward M., Albany, N. Y Merchant. 

103 Estcourt, Harry S. , Schenectady Newspaper. 

107 Furbeck, Geo. W., Stuyvesant, N. Y Clergyman. 

424 Gilmour, John T. B., Schenectady Pharmacist. 

509 Gulick, Nelson J., Bacon Hill, N. Y Clergyman. 

327 Hawkes, Edward M. Z., Newark, N. J . . . . M. D. 

76 Johnson, Irving P., S. Omaha, Neb Priest. 

323 Kurth, Henry A., Schenectady, N. Y Physician. 

209 McMillen, Harlow, Grand Rapids, N. D . . . Teacher. 

123 McMnrray, Chas. B., Troy, N. Y 

464 Miller, Edward Waite, Syracuse, N. Y. . . . Clergyman. 

69 Pepper, A. H., Schenectady Professor. 

262 Radliff, Kelton C, Schenectady Manufacturer. 

55 Van Voast, John C, Schenectady Lawyer. 

61 Vronian, Dow, Tonawanda Lawyer. 

503 Wemple, Wm. B., Albany, N. Y 

1886. 

159 Allen, T. Warren, N. Y. City Civil Engineer. 

317 Angle, E. C, Schenectady Lawyer. 

15 Dorwin, G. S., Ogdensburg, N. Y Lawyer. 

401 Foote, Thos. H., New York City Engineer. 

375 Harris, E. S., Catskill School. 

67 Jackson, Allan H., New York City Lawyer. 

405 Little, J. L., Rochester C. Eng. 

495 Perkins, Ed. J., Amsterdam Lawyer. 

249 Randall, F. S., Le Roy Lawyer. 

443 Wemple, Wm. W., Schenectady Attorney. 

1885. 

229 Bailey, Frank, Brooklyn, T. G. & T. Co. . . Lawyer. 

136 Barhydt, George Weed, Westport, Conn. . . Clergyman. 

268 Bishop, A. B., Clyde, N. Y Teacher. 

310 Bond, Frank, Kinderhook, N. Y 

361 Coffin, Saml. B., Hudson, N. Y Lawyer. 

223 Crane, F. E , Amsterdam, N. Y Civil Eng. 



REGISTRATION. 505 

Reg. No. 

325 Delaney, Thomas J., Albany, N. Y Engineer. 

420 Fowler, Everett, Kingston, N. Y Lawyer. 

504 Foote, Wallace T., Jr., Port Henry, N. Y . . Lawyer. 

326 Gibbes, R. Hamilton, Schenectady, N. Y. . Druggist. 

237 Halsey, Albert L., Schenectady Law. 

429 Mills, Wm. C, Gloversville, N. Y Lawyer. 

426 Scliermerhorn, J. R., Schenectady 

131 Sweetland, Monroe M., Ithaca, N. Y Lawyer. 

430 Veeder, John H., Schenectady School Commissioner. 

360 Wands, R. J., Fairmount, Md Business. 

1884. 

362 Allison, Geo. F., N. Y. City Lawyer. 

238 Barney, Edgar S., 36 Stuyyesant St., N. Y.Principal. 

278 Beekman, Dow, Middleburgh Lawyer. 

287 Dailey, W. N. P., Albany Clergyman. 

493 Fairgrieve, Geo. Wm., Coxsackie, 84, 89. .Teacher. 

141 Green, Jas. G., Rochester Lawyer. 

264 Heatley, John A., Schenectady Doctor. 

339 MacFarlane, A., Albany, N. Y Physician. 

118 McEncroe, J. F., Schenectady, N. Y Physician. 

348 Moore, William A., Potsdam, N. Y 

373 Mynderse, H. V., Schenectady, N. Y Physician. 

310 Naylon, Daniel Jr., Schenectady, N. Y. . . .Lawyer. 
328 Philip, H. V. N., New York Lawyer. 

Stoller, James, Schenectady Professor. 

312 Van Auken, L., West Troy, N. Y Clergyman. 

47 Young, Henry C, Hagaman, N. Y M. D. 

1883. 

Adams, John W Lawyer. 

251 Addison, Dan'l Delaney, Brookline, Mass . Clergyman. 

10 Benedict, R. A., Cranford, N. J Lawyer. 

433 Burton, Frank, Gloversville Lawyer. 

16 Cantine, James, Busrah, Arabia Missionary. 

311 Dent, Richard W., Brooklyn, N. Y 

46 Franklin, C. E., Albany, N. Y Teacher. 

204 Harding, John R., Utica, N. Y Clergyman. 

148 Hook, G. S., Schenectady Engineer. 

Evans, John Gary, Columbia, S. C Governor. 

436 Lansing, J. B. W., Tenafly, N. J Physician and Surgeon. 

377 McClellan, F. W., Schenectady Business. 

466 McElwain, Daniel C, Cohoes Lawyer. 



506 UNION COLLEGE. 

Reg. No. 

336 Sloan, B. Cleveland, Schenectady, N. Y. . Insurance. 

448 Timmerman, C. F., Amsterdam Physician. 

1882. 

Case, Lee W., Schenectady Manufacturer. 

482 Coffin, Lewis A., New York City Physician. 

110 Fairgrieve, J. E., Walton, N. Y Teacher. 

Fay, Charles E Clergyman. 

371 Gifford, Win., Schenectady Engineer. 

22 Greene, E. W., New Salem, N. Y Clergyman. 

380 Griswold, Sheldon Munroe, Hudson, N. Y. Clergyman. 

284 Hinds, Herbert C, Troy, N. Y Clergyman. 

376 McFarren, J. A., Syracuse, N. Y Att'y. 

102 Reed, W. Boardman, New York City Civil Engineer. 

Van Voast, James A., Schenectady Lawyer. 

479 Watkius, S. H., Norwalk, Conn Clergyman. 

71 Whitehorne, Bayard, Newark, N. J Electricity. 

409 Whitmeyer, Edward C, Schenectady Lawyer. 

52 Wright, A. S., Cleveland, O Teacher. 

1881. 

379 Abbott, F. E., Chicago C. E. 

248 Anable, C. V., New York Lawyer. 

303 Cameron, F. W., Albany Lawyer. 

374 Glen, Horatio G., Schenectady, N. Y Lawyer. 

298 Henning, John J., Green Island, N. Y. . . .Clergyman. 

382 Landreth, Wm. B., Cortland, N. Y Engineer. 

435 Lansing, Edw. Ten Eyck, Little Falls Civil Engineer. 

Lester, James W., Saratoga Lawyer. 

305 McClellan, Samuel Paris, Troy, N. Y Lawyer. 

Moore, Frank W Manufacturer. 

Rankine, James L., New York City Business. 

221 Schlosser, Henry, Aurora, Cayuga Co., N. Y. Pastor Presby. Church. 
95 Still, Josiah, Masonville, N. Y Clergyman. 

23 Vedder, A. M., Schenectady, N. Y Lawyer. 

481 Vedder, L. T., Schenectady, N. Y Physician. 

277 White, Wm. M., Amsterdam, N. Y Physician. 

297 Wood, Robert A., Warsaw, N. Y Editor. 

351 Wis wall, Irving W., Ballston Spa Lawyer. 

1880. 

155 Alexander, R. C, New York Lawyer. 

205 Anderson, Wilber E., Scranton, Pa Civil Engineer. 

216 Bishop, Chas. F., Brooklyn Lawyer. 

419 Craig, Joseph D., Albany, N. Y Physician. 



REGISTRATION. 507 

Reg. No. 

213 Crane, F. P. S., Middletown, N. Y Merchant, 

290 Ely, Frank S., New York City Manufacturer. 

Fitzgerald, John Leland, Schenectady. . . .Engineer. 

135 Landon, R. J., City Lawyer. 

199 Muhlf elder, David, Albany, N. Y Lawyer. 

Parry, John E., Glens Falls Banker. 

41 Ripton, B. H., Schenectady Professor. 

134 Rogers, F. T., Providence, R. I Physician. 

234 Sadler, W. H., Scranton, Pa Civil Engineer. 

i Chancellor, 
Honorary 
graduate 1880. 
Van Santvoord, Talcott C, New York City. Banker. 
Vosburgh, Miles W., Albany Business. 

1879. 

346 Adams, Wm. P., Cohoes, N. Y 

37 Goodrich, James A., Schenectady, N. Y. . Lawyer. 

465 Grupe, John W. H., Schenectady Florist. 

344 Heatly, James, Green Island Teacher. 

250 Kingsley, H. W., St. Louis, Mo 

129 Marks, Geo. E., New York City 

169 Reed, Newton L., Olean, N. Y Clergyman. 

370 Sevenoak, F. L., New York City 

128 Sprague, David, Amherst, Mass Clergyman. 

44 Van Dusen, Fred, Ogdensburg Principal. 

332 White, E. P., Amsterdam, N. Y Lawyer. 

1878. 

330 Anable, Eliph. Nott, New York Lawyer. 

385 Cass, Lewis, Aloany Lawyer. 

365 DeyErmand, Hugh H., Albany, N. Y. . . . .Manufacturer. 

418 Lansing, Egbert P., Stamford, Conn Merchant. 

80 Maxon, W. D., Pittsburgh Clergyman. 

26 Sanders, Chas. P., Schenectady Lawyer. 

Smith, Everett, Schenectady Lawyer. 

203 Stolbrand, Vasa E., New Brighton Teacher. 

293 Thomas, John F., Stuyvesant, N. Y 

31 Vanderveer, Lauren, Schenectady, N. Y. .Clergyman. 

399 Van Santvoord, Seymour, Troy, N. Y 

494 Vrooman, Wm. C, Schenectady, N. Y. . . .Merchant. 

1877. 

402 Akin, Clarence E., Troy, N. Y 

398 Bassett, Frederick J., Providence, R. I. . .Clergyman, 



508 UNION COLLEGE. 

Keg. No. 

130 Brownell, F. V., Schenectady Physician. 

388 Delehanty, John A., Albany, N. Y Lawyer. 

168 Fairlee, Geo., Troy, N. Y Clergyman. 

232 Giddings, Franklin H., New York j oS^T" " C ° lumbia 

490 Moore, Dewitt C, Johnstown, N. Y Lawyer. 

25 Rankine, Wrn. B., New York City Lawyer. 

387 Eoberson, W. C, N. Y Merchant. 

296 Russum, Joseph C, Schenectady Clergyman. 

280 Tenbroeck, D. Wessel, Rhinebeck, N. Y Postal Clerk. 

1876. 

477 Greene, Homer, Honesdale, Pa Lawyer. 

138 Kriegsman, Edward E., Schenectady . . . .Lawyer. 

367 Lawrence, E. S., Ballston, N. Y 

147 Landreth, Olin H., Union College Professor. 

Truax, James R., Schenectady Prof, of English. 

231 Veenfliet, E. M., St. Mary's, Ohio Civil Engineer. 

1875. 

294 Dudley, Harwood, Johnstown, N. Y Lawyer. 

Franchot, N. V. V., Olean, N. Y Manufacturer. 

120 Gowenlock, J. N., Marlboro', England. . . .Engineer. 

463 Hodgkins, H. C, Syracuse, N. Y Civil Engineer. 

392 King, Chas. B., Peoria, 111 

98 Oppenheim, Louis, New York . . U. S. Service. 

57 Raymond, Andrew V. V., Schenec'y, N. Y. President Union Col. 

295 Schoolcraft, John L., Schenectady M. D. 

269 Smith, DeWitt G, Schenectady, N. Y Civil Engineer. 

502 Wemple, Frank P., Schenectady, N. Y. . . . Manufacturer. 

1874. 

337 Backus, J. Bayard, New York Lawyer. 

335 Barker, James F., Albany, N. Y Physician. 

455 Beakley, G. F., Johnstown, N. Y 

1873. 

276 Buchanan, A., Chambersburg, Pa Eng'r and Contractor. 

2 Clute, Wm. T., Schenectady, N. Y Physician. 

270 Faulkner, "W. E., Fairview, Pa Minister. 

253 King, H. Prior, Glens Falls Lawyer. 

485 Lester, Willard, Saratoga Lawyer. 

423 Packer, J. B., Schenectady 

302 Rider, John M., New York Lawyer. 



REGISTRATION. 509 

Reg. No. 
282 Rost, Wm. F., Schenectady 

306 Rudd, Wm. P., Albany Lawyer. 

1872. 
459 Archibald, Andrew W., Hyde Park, Bost'n. Clergyman. 

241 Barry, J. C, Cortland, N. Y Manufacturing. 

473 Crofts, Clarence L., Hudson Merchant. 

333 Hillis, W. J., Albany Lawyer. 

79 Kline, Wm. J., Amsterdam Publisher. 

451 Mills, Charles H., Albany, N. Y 

96 Thornton, Howard, Newburgh, N. Y Lawyer. 

1871. 

378 Corbin, E. A., Albany Teacher. 

240 Featherstonhaugh, Geo. W., Schenectady . Lawyer. 

196 Hoff, John Van R., U. S. A., (Gov'nor'slsl.) .Med. Department. 

279 Sprague, Philo W., Boston, Mass Minister. 

230 Wilbur, H. S., Rochester, N. Y Lawyer. 

356 Yates, C. 0., Schenectady 

1870. 

513 Backus, Clarence W. , Kansas City, Kau . . Clergyman. 

139 Genung, George F., Suffield, Conn Clergyman. 

7 Genung, John F. , Amherst, Mass Professor. 

Lester, Charles C, Saratoga Sprs Lawyer. 

219 Lockwood, Jas. B., White Plains Lawyer. 

Ill Peake, Albert D., Walton, N. Y Lawyer. 

500 Peake, Cyrus A., Yonkers, N. Y Lawyer. 

218 Sherman, Joseph, New Baltimore Civil Engineer. 

334 Stiles, R. B., Lansingburgh, N. Y Lawyer. 

132 Wortman, Denis, Saugerties (Hon.) Clergyman. 

1869. 

301 Clark, Kenneth, St. Paul, Minn Banker. 

363 Washington, J. A., Schenectady 

1868. 

307 Hunter, W. S., Schenectady Manufacturer. 

342 Mott, John T., Oswego Banker. 

9 Scott, Walter, Suffield, Conn Prin. Conn. Lit. Inst. 

318 Spraker, David, Canajoharie, N. Y Lawyer. 

368 Warner, J. B. Y., Rochester, N. Y Planter. 

1867. 

201 Coons, J. J., Deckertown, N. J Civil Engineer. 

143 Doolittle, S. K., Stony Point, N. Y Clergyman. 



510 UNION COLLEGE. 

Reg. No. 

414 Fiero, J. N., Albany Lawyer. 

407 Fish, R. B., Fultonville, N. Y Lawyer. 

242 Hamlin, Teunis S., Washington Clergyman. 

355 Murray, Wm. H., Albany, N. Y Physician. 

289 Olney, A. E., West Troy Clergyman. 

267 Planck, M. G., Schenectady, N. Y Physician. 

413 Ronan, E. D., Albany Lawyer. 



1866. 

149 Alexander, George, New York City Clergyman. 

486 Ashe, John E., Fonda, N. Y Lawyer. 

499 Bates, Erskine S., New York City Physician. 

390 Bunn, T. Romeyn, Amsterdam, N. Y 

116 Cady, M. M., Dubuque, Iowa Lawyer. 

457 Dean, J. J., New York City 

452 Loucks, William, Albany, N. Y 

474 Miller, James C, Amsterdam 

475 Sanson, Thos. J., East Orange, N. J Lawyer. 

45 Seymour, Dan'l, New York City Lawyer. 

88 Van Vrankeu, E. W., Brooklyn Lawyer. 

Wemple, Edward, Fultonville Manufacturer. 

1865. 

189 Albro, W. H., Middleburgh, N. Y Lawyer. 

447 Allen, Elmer A., New York City Lawyer. 

27 Brooks, Clark, New York Lawyer. 

324 Cornell, Howard, Seneca Castle, N. Y Clergyman. 

28 Hoag, F. J., Toledo, 

478 Lockwood, D. N., Buffalo, N. Y Lawyer. 

60 Lyon, R. S., Chicago Commissioner. 

193 McLeod, Theodoras, New York City Lawyer. 

13 Meredith, J. L., Williamsport, Pa Lawyer. 

58 Paige, Jno. Keyes, Schenectady, N. Y. . . . 

30 Pelton, Frank, Des Moines, Iowa Civil Engineer. 

Robinson, David C, Elmira Lawyer. 

263 Rockwell, Lewis H., Albany Teacher. 

86 Rossiter, S. B v New York City Minister. 

194 Rupert, John L., Sammonsville Teacher. 

Staley, Cady, Cleveland, President. 

274 Sutton, George H., Springfield, Mass Insurance. 

109 Van Zandt, H. C, Schenectady .Physician. 

210 Waldron, Z. W., Jackson, Mich Physician. 



REGISTRATION. 511 

Reg. NO. lg 64. 

112 Anthony, Walter C, Newburgh, N. Y. ... Lawyer. 

113 Arthur, George, Springfield, Lawyer. 

49 Burnham, T. W., Cleveland, Merchant. 

212 Carr, Elias F., Trenton, N, J Teacher. 

217 Crumb, D. S., Bloomfield, Mo Real Estate. 

87 Curtiss, E., Sodus Teacher. 

352 Magoun, Edw. P., Hudson, N. Y Lawyer. 

Paige, Edward Winslow, New York City. . 
43 Potter, William Appleton, New York City . Architect. 

^20 Sherman, Augustus, New Baltimore Lawyer. 

273 Steinfuhrer, C. D. F., Astoria, L. I., N. Y. . Clergyman. 

Strong, Alonzo P., Schenectady Lawyer. 

8 "Van Allen, C. E., Stephentown Minister. 

211 Wakeman, Samuel S., Ballston Spa, N. Y. . Merchant. 
174 Ward, Henry, Closter, N. J Clergyman. 

1863. 
167 Atwood, A. Watson, Philadelphia, Pa. . . . Lawyer. 
497 Easton, Charles L., Chicago Lawyer. 

165 Parker, Amasa J., Albany, N. Y Lawyer. 

Potter, Henry C, New York (A. M.) Chan. '95, Clergyman. 

166 Snow, Horatio N., Albany, N. Y Banker. 

202 Van Vranken, G. D., Hempstead M. D. 

1862. 

291 Both well, J. L., Albany Teacher. 

397 Brooks, Peter H., Wilkesbarre, Pa Clergyman. 

496 Burns, J. Irving, Yonkers Lawyer. 

19 Howe, S. B., Schenectady Supt. Schools. 

510 Joslin, J. T., Schenectady 

145 Lewis, D. N., Averill Park Clergyman. 

393 Shankland, W. H., Albany, N. Y 

21 Sherwood, John E., Albany Teacher. 

254 Slocum, Elliott T., Detroit, Mich 

1861. 

358 Bailey, John M., Albany, N. Y Lawyer. 

331 Barnes, John A., Chicago, 111 Insurance. 

441 Coe, John S., Canandaigua, N. Y. Lawyer. 

260 Earle, Charles M., N. Y. City Lawyer. 



512 UNION COLLEGE. 

Keg. No. 

369 Fox, Chas. J., Detroit, Mich 

410 Landon, Melville D., New York City ... i 

411 Eli Perkins, New York City \ Patriot. 

Potter, Elipkalet Nott, Geneva President. 

108 Reagles, James, Schenectady, N. Y Physician. 

184 Reynolds, S. Edgar, Troy, N. Y Lawyer. 

469 Smith, Chas. Emory, Philadelphia Editor. 

484 Turner, Robert T., Elmira Lawyer. 

239 White, T. R., New York City Teacher. 

42 "Wilcox, Maj. Timothy E., U. S. Army Surgeon. 

456 Yost, Daniel, Fonda, N. Y 

1860. 

255 Archbald, James, Scranton, Pa Engineer. 

Benedict, Samuel T., Schenectady Lawyer. 

258 Birch, J. P., Philadelphia, Pa Physician. 

235 Cantine, John, Schenectady Civil Engineer. 

90 Conant, C. A., Lishas Kill Clergyman. 

99 Flint, Weston, Washington, D. C 

181a Gilmour, Neil, Ballston Spa., N. Y Manager Aetna Life. 

105 Hulett, E. M., Fort Scott, Kan Lawyer. 

64 Lyon, J. Alexander, Schenectady, N. Y. . . 
200 Mansfield, S., Wappinger's Falls, N. Y . . . . Principal. 

214 Miller, Warner, Herkimer Farmer. 

McElroy, Wm. H., New York City Journalist. 

195 Patterson, Charles E., Troy, N. Y Lawyer. 

417 Rexford, W. M., N. Y Contractor. 

63 Sprague, Charles E., New York Pres't Savings Bank. 

215 Thayer, Samuel R., Minneapolis, Minn. . . 

265 Voorhees, J. H., Amsterdam 

460 Wilcox, J. H., Otter Lake, N. Y 

1859. 

442 Hodge, James M., Philadelphia, Pa Secret'y and Treasurer. 

117 Jackson, Daniel B., Minneapolis, Minn. ..Clergyman. 

177 Peck, Chas. H., Albany, N. Y Botanist. 

315 Rexford, Benjamin F., Jr., Montclair, N. J. Custom Service. 

100 Robinson, James H., Delhi, N. Y 

428 Westlake, W. B., Dallas, Pa Clergyman. 

1858. 

161 Cooley, Le Roy C, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. . . 

162 Daniels, Anson J., Grand Rapids, Mich. . .Lumberman. 

17 Enders, J. H. ? Fort Hunter, N. Y. Synodical Sup't. 



REGISTRATION. 513 

Reg. No. 

233 Fisk, Richmond, Boston, Mass Clergyman. 

14 Graham, J. B., Schenectady, N. Y 

396 Hazleton, Geo. C, Washington, D. C. ... Lawyer. 

175 Johnson, Win. M., Cohoes, N. Y Clergyman. 

Mygatt, John T , New York Business. 

316 Norton, L. P., Bennington, Vt Insurance. 

403 Tryon, J. R., Navy Dept., Wash., D. C. . . Surg. Gen'l. U. S. N. 

1857. 

51 DeRemer, J. A., Schenectady Lawyer. 

182 Felter, M., Troy, N. Y .... Physician. 

170 Horner, Geo. D., New Egypt, N. J Teacher. 

157 Lewis, S. D., Amsterdam Physician. 

152 McChesney, J. B., Oakland, Cal Teacher. 

347 Thorne, C. C, Windham, N. Y Clergyman. 

154 Zabriskie, N. Lansing, Aurora, N. Y. . . . Law. 

1856. 

329 Cheeseman, N. S., Scotia, N. Y Physician. 

50 Hough, G. W., Evanston Astronomer. 

353 Robinson, W. J., Allegheny, Pa Clergyman. 

1855. 

114 Clarke, A. P., Cazenovia, N. Y C. Engineer. 

Landon, Judson S., Schenectady. (A. M.) Lawyer. 

1854. 

172 Burton, Reuben B., New York Physician. 

20 Furbeck, P. R., Gloversville, N. Y Physician. 

434 Furbeck, P., West Copake Clergyman. 

236 Marvin, Daniel, Troy, N. Y Clergyman. 

349 Nott, Chas. D., New York 

160 Peterson, E. H., Montrose, N. Y. Lawyer. 

304 Rice, Edwin W., Philadelphia Editor. 

400 Westfall, D. M., Cambridge 

364 Yates, A. A., Schenectady 

1853. 

54 Jackson, A. H., Ft. Logan, Colo U. S. Army. 

197 Millard, Nelson, Rochester Clergyman. 

1852. 

354 Anderson, J., Cambridge, N. Y Clergyman. 

83 Brownell, S. B., New York Counsellor at Law. 

259 Dunlap, Wm. B., Schenectady 

33 



514 UNION COLLEGE. 

Reg. No. 

292 Hood, Robt., Livingston, N. Y Civil Engineer. 

505 Hitchcock, 0. B., Ithaca Minister. 

514 Linn, John D., St. Augustine, Fla Clergyman. 

1851. 

183 Fry, Jacob, Reading, Pa Clergyman. 

179 Graham, William, Dubuque, Iowa Lawyer. 

489 Gurley, L. E., Troy Manufacturer. 

171 Smith, Alfred B., Poughkeepsie, N. Y Lawyer. 

164 Woodruff, Wm. H., Pine Bush, Orange, ) _. . . 

q jj y C Physician & Surgeon. 

225 Wright, Frank D. ; Auburn, N. Y Lawyer. 

1850. 

163 Darrow, D. J., Brookings, S. Dakota 

1 Day, S. Mills, Honeoye, N. Y Clergyman. 

81 Thomson, Lemon, Thomson, N. Y Lumber Merchant. 

1849. 

271 Brower, H. T. E., Fonda Farmer. 

341 Butterfield, Daniel, New York 

142 French, John R., Syracuse University ... Teacher. 

308 Green, Andrew H., Syracuse, N. Y Lawyer. 

438 Merchant, Abel, Nassau, N. Y 

104 Pearse, J. Lansing, Delmar, N. Y Clergyman. 

188 Wells, Sam'l, Schuylerville Lawyer. 

1848. 

151 Bliss, Thos. E., Denver, Colo Clergyman. 

285 Branson, J. H., Amsterdam Retired. 

97 Dauchy, Geo. K., Chicago Manufacturer. 

408 Dief endorf , Menzo, New York Lawyer. 

140 King, Harvey J., Troy, N. Y Lawyer. 

12 Stark, Joshua, Milwaukee, Wis Lawyer. 

158 Waldron, C. A., Waterford Law. 

1847. 

445 McClellan, R. H., Galena, 111 Varied. 

1846. 

187 Anable, Courtland W., New Brighton, S. I.Clergyman. 

133 Baldwin, R. J., Minneapolis, Minn 

186 Carroll, John M., Johnstown Lawyer. 

18 Dunham, Isaac W., Schen'dy Teacher. 



REGISTRATION. 515 

Reg. No. 

24 Eankiue, James, Geneva, N. Y Clergyman. 

173 Silliman, H. B., Cohoes . . 

357 Swits, Jno. L., Schenectady 

1845. 

29 Bailey, Lansing, Geneva, N. Y Clergyman. 

448 Bush, Stephen, Waterford, N. Y Clergyman. 

275 Campbell, John L., New York Physician. 

185 Earl, R., Herkimer Judge. 

272 Perry, Seely, Rockford, 111 Merchant. 

6 Putnam, L. D., Grand Rapids, Mich Doctor. 

89 Warring, C. B., Poughkeepsie Teacher. 

1844. 

508 Brown, Tkeo. S., Chatham, N. Y Clergyman. 

515 Lamoroux, Wendell, Union College Professor. 

72 Moore, W. H. H., New York Lawyer. 

73 Phelps, Philip, Jr., North Blenheim, N. Y.Clergyman. 
146 Rice, Alexander H., Boston 

472 Wood, Wm. H., Chicago Lawyer. 

1843. 

366 Collier, C. P., Hudson, N. Y 

386 Geer, A. C, Hoosick Falls Lawyer. 

91 Moore, Franklin, Washington, D. C U. S. Service. 

4 Taylor, Geo. I., Newark, N. J Clergyman. 

106 Taylor, J. W., Cleveland, Ohio 

1842. 
53 Jackson, S. W., Schenectady Lawyer. 

92 Maxwell, J. L., New York Clergyman. 

381 McHarg, Chas. K., Cooperstown, N. Y. . . . Clergyman. 

1841. 

299 Cowles, Augustus W., Elmira, N. Y Pres. Em. Elmira Col. 

198 Luce, Samuel D., Fayetteville Lawyer. 

350 Potter, Henry C, Saginaw, Mich R. R'd. 

470 Potter, Jos., Whitehall Lawyer. 

1840. 

Chadsey, Demetrius M., Schenectady Lawyer. 

124 Clarke, George W., Ph. D., New York City.Teacher. 
222 Danf orth, George F., Rochester, N. Y. ... Lawyer. 
156 Hodgman, T. M., Rochester Clergyman. 



516 UNION COLLEGE. 

Reg. No. 

1838. 

300 McCaU, A. J,, Bath, N. Y 

471 Walworth, Clarence A., Albany, N. Y. ... Clergyman. 

1837. 

309 House, Sam'l R., Waterford, N. Y Clergyman. 

150 Williams, Stephen K., Newark, N. Y. ... Lawyer. 

1836. 

404 Haskins, Sam'l M., Brooklyn Clergyman. 

391 Seward, Alex., Utica, N. Y 

1835. 

Foster, John, Schenectady Professor Emer. 

406 Reed, Villeroy D., Philadelphia, Pa Clergyman. 

144 Van Santvoord, C, Kingston Clergyman. 

1834. 

389 Featherstonhaugh, J. D., Duanesburg .... 

1832. 
180 Kanouse, John L., Boonton, New Jersey .Farmer. 

1831. 

178 Dana, J. Jay, Housatonic, Mass Clergyman. 

OTHER COLLEGES. 

AMHERST. 

85 Dewey, Melvil, Albany Sec. Regents, 1874. 

132 Wortman, Denis, Saugerties, N. Y Clergyman, 1857. 

CHICAGO. 

224 Lipes, Henry H, Central Bridge Minister. 

431 Neely, F. Tennyson Chicago, 111. 

HAMILTON. 
501 Groves, Leslie R., Albany, N. Y Minister, 1881. 

LAWRENCE. 
421 Albro, Addis, Bridgeport, Conn Clergyman, 1880. 



REGISTRATION. 517 

Reg. No. 

ROCHESTER. 

5 Fowler, Geo. M., Rochester, N. Y Teacher, 1878. 

RUTGERS. 

468 Ditmars, C. P., Niskayuna Clergyman, 1876. 

281 Searle, J. P., New Brunswick, N. J. . . . . . .Minister, 1875. 

TRINITY. 
115 Olmstead, James F., Schenectady, N. Y. . .Clergyman. 

WABASH. 
467 Johnson, E. P., Albany Clergyman, 1871. 

WILLIAMS. 
68 SewalL A. C, Schenectady Clergyman, 1867. 

YALE. 

288 Sawin, T. P., Troy, N. Y Clergyman, 1864. 

226 Wright, Henry P., New Haven, Conn Teacher, 1868. 



33* 



INDEX. 



"Academy, The." Address by Rev. 
C. F. P. Bancroft, 173 

Addison, Rev. Daniel, 22 

Aiken, Eev. Dr. Charles A., 60 

Alden, Rev. Dr. Joseph, 379 

Alexander, Rev. Dr. George, 4, 6, 7, 
63, 402 ; address by, 79 

Alexander, Robert C, 1, 4, 6, 7; 
History of the College by, 37 

Alexander, R. C, prize, 20 

Allen, Benjamin, 62 

Allen, William F. 358 

Allison-Foote prize, 20 

Alumni Association, 21 

Amherst College, 209 

Anable, Courtland V., 22 

Andrews, President, address by, 186 

Arthur, President Chester A., 467 

Asbury African Church, N. Y., Ap- 
plication to Legislature for grant, 
53 ; Lottery bill grant, 54 

Baccalaureate sermon by the Rt. 

Rev. William Crosswell Doane, 127 
Bailey, Frank, 5 
Bailey, Gr. R., 21 
Bailey, Hon. John M., 25 
Bancroft, Rev. C. F. P., address by, 

172 
Baptist Church, as represented by the 

Rev. Walter Scott, 101 
Barney, Edgar S., 7 
Bayard, James A., 462 
Beattie, Rev. Dr. Charles, 5 
Beck, Dr. Theodric Romeyn, 409 
Becker, Hon. Tracy C, 5 
Beekman, Dow, 5, 7 
Bliss, Rev. Dr. Thomas E., address 

by, 110 



Board of Regents, First charter 

granted by, 248 
Booth, Rev. Dr. Robert Russell, 26 
Breckinridge, Rev. Robert J., 394 
Breese, Sidney, 354 
Bridge, Charles F., 7 
Brodhead, Rev. Augustus, 393 
Brown, Prof., 25 
Brown, Rev. Dr. Robert M., 5 
Brown University, 187, 260 
Brown, Warren Gr., 5 
Brownell, Hon. Silas B., 5, 6, 24; 

Speech by, 437 
Brownell, Rt. Rev. Thomas C, 63, 

314, 387 
Butterfield, Genl. Daniel, 4, 6, 7, 23 ; 

Speech by, 335 
Butterfield prize, 33 
Burtis, Hon. John H., 5 
Burton, Frank, 5 

Cady, Monroe M., 5, 7 
Cameron, Frederick W., 5, 7 
Campbell, Hon. William W., 57 
Carroll, Hon. John M., 5 
Cassidy, William, 465 
Centennial banquet, 22 ; addresses 
by Prof. John H. Hewitt, 263; 
Prof. Wm. MacDonald, 274; Prof. 
Anson D. Morse, 283 ; Prof. George 
H. Palmer, 258; President Ray- 
mond, 247 ; Prof. Charles F. Rich- 
ardson, 268 ; Prof. Oren Root, 280 ; 
President Austin Scott, 285 ; Presi- 
dent James H. Taylor, 288 ; Prof. 
John Randolph Tucker, 276 ; Rev. 
Dr. Anson J. Upson, 249; Dean J. 
H. Van Amringe, 271 ; Dean Henry 
P. Wright, 261 



520 



UNION COLLEGE. 



Centennial Celebration : Resolutions 
regarding, 1, 2, 3 ; Date selected 
for, 3; List of committees ap- 
pointed for, 4, 5, 6, 7 

Centennial oration by the Rt. Rev. 
Henry C. Potter, 477 

Chandler, Charles F., 63 

Chaplin, Winfield S., 63 

Chester, Rev. William, 391 

Clark, Kenneth, 5 

Clarke, Nathaniel Gr., 63 

Clarke, Prof. George W., 25 

Clute, Dr. William T., 5, 7, 22 

Cochrane, Gen. John, 5 

Cokesbury College, 99 

Cole, Orsamus, 362 

Cole, Prof. Philip H., 5, 7 

" College, The." Addresses by Presi- 
dent Andrews, 186; President 
Taylor, 198 ; President Scott, 181 

College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
Application to Legislature for grant 
to, 53 ; Lottery bill grant, 54 

Columbia College and the Hosaek Bo- 
tanical Garden, 53 

Commemoration, Sketch of the, 1 

Commencement Day procession, 26 

Comstoek, Fred. L., 5 

Comstock, George F., 360 

Conkling, Judge Alfred, 460 

Conover, Archie R., 5 

Cowles, Rev. Augustus W., 30 

Craig, Dr. Joseph D., 4, 6 

Cromwell, Charles T., 5 

Cruikshank, Rev. Dr. John C, 5 

Culver, Dr. Charles M., 5 

Culver, Charles W., 7 

Danforth, Hon. George F., 5, 22, 361 ; 

address by, 296 
Dartmouth College founded, 111 
Davis, Henry, 62 
Day, Rev. S. Mills, 25 
Dayton, Hon. Isaac, 5 
Dean, Amos, 358 
Degrees conferred, 28, 29, 30, 31 
Dentistry, Requirements for study of, 

148 



de Puy, Frank A., 7 

De Remer, Hon. John A., 4, 6, 7 

Dewey, Hon. Melvil. Address by, 
143 

De Witt, Rev. William R., 397 

De Witt, Thomas, 398 

Doane, George W., 21, 388 

Doane, Rt. Rev. William C, 20; bac- 
calaureate sermon by, 127 

Donnan, George R., 5 

Earl, Hon. Robert, 4, 6, 362 

Eaton, Rev. George W., 381 

Education, Baptist Church and, 101 ; 
Methodist Episcopal Church and, 
95 ; Presbyterian Church and, 110 ; 
Protestant Episcopal Church and, 
115 ; Roman Catholic Church and, 
121 ; under secular authority, 154 ; 
universal and popular, 151 

Educational conference, 143; The 
academy, 172 ; The college, 183 ; 
Graduate work, 217 ; Growth of the 
woman's college, 198 ; Secondary 
school, 143 ; Studies of the second- 
ary school, 150 ; The university, 
213, 231 

Engineering school, 25 ; Semi-cen- 
tennial of, 421 

Evans, Hon. John Gary, 26 ; address 
by, 439 

" Faculty, The Starred," 311 

Fairgrieve, James R., 5 

Fiero, Hon. J. Newton, 5, 6, 23 ; ad- 
dress by, 352 

Flint, Weston, 23 ; poem by, 347 

Foote, Rev. Dr. Horatio, 56 

Foote, Samuel A., 354 

Foote, Hon. Wallace P., 25 ' 

Foster, John, 5, 63 

Franchot, Nicholas Van V., 5, 27 

Genung, Prof. John F., 25 
Gillespie, Prof.WilliamM., 63, 325,422 
Gilman, President, Address by, 213 
Graham, Rev. James R., 399 
Grand Committee of One Hundred, 3 
Gray, Hiram, 356 



INDEX. 



521 



Greene, Homer, 4, 7. 
Greenman, Russell S., 5 

Hagar, Prof. Daniel B., 5 

Hale, Prof. William G., 31; address 
by, 217 

Hall, Dean Lewis B., 4 

Hall, President, address by, 230 

Hall, Rev. Samuel H., 391 

Halsey, Dr. John C, 5 

Hamilton College, application to 
Legislature for grant to, 53 

Hamilton, Prof. Frank H., 411 

Hamlin, Eev. Dr. Teunis S., 22, 23; 
address by, 368 

Hand, Clifford A., 5 

Hand, Samuel, 364 

Harper, President, 216 

Harris, Hamilton, 5, 6, 361 

Harris, Ira, 356 

Harvard College founded, 110 

Harvard University's greetings to 
Union College, 258 

Haskins, Eev. Samuel M., 398 

Hassler, Frederick R., 63 

Hawley, Gideon, 249, 460 

Hazelton, George E., 22 

Headly, Joel T., 5 

Heatley, James, 22 

Hewitt, Prof. John H., 30 ; speech of, 
263 

Hiekok, Eev. Dr. Laurens P., 56, 63, 
81, 253, 322, 376 ; elected vice-presi- 
dent, 58 

Hobart College, 472 

Hodgkins, Henry C, 25 

Hoff, Dr. John Van E., 23; address 
by, 406 

Hoffman, John T., 363 

Holcorabe, Hon. Chester, 4, 6 

Honors awarded, Special, 32 

Hosack Botanical Garden ; how Co- 
lumbia College secured it, 53 

Huested, Dr. Alfred B., 4 

Hughes, George T., 5 

Hun, Dr. Thomas, 5 

Hund, Ward, 359 

Huntingdon, Eev. Dr. Ezra A., 5, 84 



Jackson, Hon. Samuel W., 5, 7 
Jackson, Prof. Isaac W., 62, 317, 

492 ; " Capt. Jack's garden," 73 
Jackson,Eev. Dr. Sheldon, 5, 85,86, 395 
Johnson, Eev. Wm. M., 400 
Joslin, Benjamin F., 63 
Joy, Charles A., 63 

Kent, William, 56 
King, William H., 363 

Lamoroux, Prof. Wendell, 5, 7, 63 
Landon, Hon. Judson S., 4, 6, 60 
Landon, Melville D., 25 
Landon, William P., 5, 7 
Landreth, Prof. Olin H., 25 
Lane, Dr. Levi C, 418 
Lansing, Eev. Gulian, 393 
Legal profession, requirements for 

candidates, 147 ; Union men in the, 

352 
Lester, Charles C, 4, 6 
Lewis, Prof. Tayler, 56, 62, 63, 82, 253, 

320, 492 ; library of, 21 
Littlejohn, Et. Eev. Abram N., 5, 390 
Loomis, Dr. Alfred L., 416 
Loomis, Eev. Dr. B. B., address by, 95 
Loomis, Frank, 7 
Lott, John A., 356 
Lowell, Eobert, 62 
Ludlow, Fitzhugh, Poem by, 31 
Ludlow, Eev. John, 383 

Mabon, Rev. William A. VanV., 385 
Maeauley, Thomas, 63, 326, 402 
McClure, James H., 5, 6 
MacCracken, Chancellor, regrets of, 

270 
MacDonald, Prof. William, 30; 

speech of, 274 
McElroy, William H., 22, 23 ; Centen- 
nial poem by, 328 
McLeod, Eev. Alexander, 399 
McMaster, Eev. Dr. Erastus D., 382 
Matthews, Eev. James McF., 400 
Mattoon, Rev. Stephen, 392 
Maxon, Rev. Dr. William D., 22; 
address by, 115 



522 



UNION COLLEGE. 



Maxwell, William H., address by, 
150 

Medical Profession, "Onion College in 
the, 406 

Medicine, requirements for study of, 
147 

Meredith, Hon. James L., 25 

Methodist Episcopal Church as rep- 
resented by the Rev. Dr. B. B. 
Loomis, 95 

Millard, Rev. Dr. Nelson, 5, 22 

Miller, Hon. Warner, 5, 6, 25 ; ad- 
dress by, 427 

Ministry, Union College in the, 368 

Moore, William H. H., 4, 7, 23 ; speech 
by, 248 

Morse, Prof. Anson D., 31; speech 
of, 283 

Mygatt, John T., 5 

Mynderse, Dr. Herman V., 22 

Nevin, Rev. Dr. John W., 380 

Newcomb, Zaccheus T., 5 

Newman, John, 62 

North, Edward P., 5 

Nott, Hon. Charles C, 5 

Nott, Rev. Dr. Charles D., 4, 6, 7, 
22; address by, 293 

Nott, Rev. Dr. Eliphalet, 48, 182, 
495 ; and the new college grounds, 
51.; as an educator, 56, 82 ; fiftieth 
anniversary of his administration, 
57 ; his proposed school curriculum, 
156 ; made president, 48 ; sketch of, 
296, 495 

Nott, Joel B., 63 

Nott, Rev. John W., 30 

"Old Flag, The," poem by Weston 

Flint, 347 
Orr, Robert P., 5 

Palmer, Prof. George H., 30; address 

by, 258 
Park, Rev. Roswell, 382 
Parker, Hon. Amasa J., 5, 21, 22, 23, 

357 
Pearson, Jonathan, 63, 326 



Peckham, Rufus W., 359 

Peissner, Prof. Elias, 59, 63, 327 

Pemberton, Howard, 5 

Perkins, Maurice, 63 

Phelps, Rev. Philip, 23 

Phi Beta Kappa, 21 

Porter, John K, 360 

Potter, Rev. Dr. Alonzo, 57, 63, 252, 
316, 388, 494 ; extract from semi-cen- 
tennial discourse of, 478 

Potter, Rev. Dr. E. Nott, 5, 27, 385 ; 
address by, 471; elected presi- 
dent, 60 

Potter, Rt. Rev. Henry C, 27; Cen- 
tennial oration by, 477 

Potter, Rt. Rev. Horatio, 390 

Potter, Rockwell H., 20, 25 

Presbyterian Church, as represented 
by the Rev. Dr. Thomas E. Bliss, 
110 

Prest, Edward J., 5 

Price, Isaiah B., 62, 327 

Princeton Univei"sity, 259 

Prizes awarded, 32 

Proal, Pierre A., 63 

Proceedings, The, 19 

Protestant Episcopal Church, as rep- 
resented by the Rev. Dr. William 
D. Maxon, 115 

Proudfit, Rev. Dr. Alexander, 5 

Proudfit, Robert, 62, 326 

Pruyn, John V. L., 5, 7 

Rankine, William B., 5, 7 

Raymond, President Andrew V. V., 4, 
6, 404 ; address to graduating class, 
27; elected president, 61; his 
opening address at the Centennial 
banquet, 247 

Raymond, Rev. John H., 377 

Raymond, Rev. Dr. Robert P., 384 

Registration, 501 

Reid, Rev. Dr. Thomas C, 62, 326 

Religion and Education, Conference 
on the relations of, 91 

Reynaud, Pierre, 63 

Rice, Hon. Alex. H., 4, 6, 7 

Rice, Rev. Dr. Edwin W., 391 



INDEX. 



523 



Richardson, Prof. Charles P., 23, 30; 
speech of, 268 

Ripton, Prof. Benjamin H., 4, 6, 30 

Robertson, Tracy H., 5, 7 

Robinson, Hon. David C, 21, 26; 
appeal for Prof. Lewis's library by, 
271 ; address by, 444 

" Roll-Call," Centennial poem by Wil- 
liam H. McElroy, 328 

Roman Catholic Church, as repre- 
sented by the Rev. Dr. Frederick 
Z. Rooker, 121 

Romeyn, Rev. Dr. Dirck, 38, 43, 93 

Rooker, Rev. Dr. Frederick Z., 89; 
address by, 121 

Root, Prof. Oren, 30 ; speech of, 280 

Rossiter, Rev. Dr. Stealy B., 5, 21, 
22, 401 ; address by, 311 

Rudd, William P., 4, 6 



Sanderson, Silas W., 363 

Savage, John, 354 

Scott, President, address by, 183 ; 
speech of, 285 

Scott, Rev. Walter, address by, 101 

Secondary school, address by Hon. 
Melvil Dewey on the, 143 ; address 
by William H. Maxwell, 150 

Seelye, President L. Clark, 5, 198, 
378 

Sewall, Rev. Dr. A. C, 20; address 
by, 91 

Seward, Hon. Frederick W., 5, 7 

Seward, William H., 56, 354, 465 

Sexton, Hon. Pliny T., 5, 7 

Sigma Xi, 21 

Smith, Dr. John Nash, 408 

Smith, Hon. Charles Emory, 4, 7, 26 ; 
address by, 456 

" Song to Old Union," by F. Ludlow, 
31 

Sprague, Col. Charles E., 4, 6 

Spencer, Hon. John C, 55, 461 

Spencer, Rev. I. S., 400 

Staley, President Cady, 25, 63; ad- 
dress by, 421 

Stanton, Benjamin, 62, 327 



Starin, Hon. John H, 5, 6, 7 
Steves, Prof. Oliver P., 5 
Stimson, Dr. Daniel M., 5, 7, 419 
Stone's, Genl., regrets, 424 
Streeter, Dr. Frederick B., 5 
Strong, Alonzo P., 22 
Sweetman, Rev. Dr. Joseph, 57 

Tallmadge, Nathaniel P., 462 
Tappan, Rev. Dr. Henry P., 373 
Taylor, President James H., 288; 

address by, 198 
Taylor, John, 62 
Tellkampf, Louis, 63 
Thornton, Hon. Howard, 5, 6 
Toombs, Robert, 463 
Totten, Rev. Dr. Silas, 381 
Townsend, Dr. Howard, 414 
Truax, Prof. James R., 4, 6, 7 
Tryon, Dr. J. Rufus, 31, 418 
Tucker, Prof. John R., 31 ; speech 

of, 276 
Tucker, Dr. Willis G.. 3, 4, 6 
Union College, History of, 37; aca- 
demic charter granted, 41 ; final 
petition to the Board of Regents, 
41 ; charter granted, 42 ; organiza- 
tion of, 44; progress of first two 
years, 45; financial history, 49;. lot- 
tery in connection with, 49 ; Dr. 
Nott and the new college grounds, 
51 ; plan of college building by M. 
Ram6e, 52; lottery bill grant, 54; 
examination of financial condition 
by Committee of Assembly, 55 ; 
Semi-centennial anniversary, 57; 
effect of Civil War on, 58 ; educa- 
tional influence and progress, 62 ; 
French professorship, 64; first 
course of civil engineering estab- 
lished, 65; mother of secret so- 
cieties, 65 ; college publications, 
66 ; songs of, 66 ; government of, 
67 ; presidents of, 67 ; buildings 
and grounds, 67 ; present trustees, 
73 ; present faculty, 74 ; General 
Alumni Association, 75 ; univer- 
sity powers, 75 ; religious influ- 



524 



UNION COLLEGE. 



ence of, 79 ; its origin, 80 ; reli- 
gious men of, 81, 83, 84 ; influence 
of Tayler Lewis on, 82, 178 ; promi- 
nent posts occupied by her men of 
religion, 84; and evangelistic work, 
85 ; undenominational character 
of, 88, 93, 144, 154; liberality in 
its range of studies, 144 ; first char- 
ter by Board of Regents granted to, 
248 ; and the Board of Regents, 249; 
in patriotic service, 335 ; upon the 
bench and at the bar, 348 ; in the 
ministry, 368; in the medical pro- 
fession, 406; in commercial and 
industrial life, 427; in statesman- 
ship and politics, 437, 444, 456 
Union University, 75 
" University, The." Address by Pres- 
ident Gilman, 213; address by Prof . 
William Or. Hale, 217 ; address by 
President Hall, 230 
University celebration, 471 
University of Pennsylvania, 174 
Upfold, Rev. Dr. George, 387 
Upson, Rev. Dr. Anson J., address 
by, 249 

Van Amringe, Dean John H., 30 ; 

speech of, 271 
Van Santvoord, Seymour, 4, 6, 7 
Vassar College, 205 
Vedder, Dr. Alexander M., 414 
Vedder, Rev. Charles S., 400 



Waldron, Rev. Charles N., 399 
Ward, Dr. Samuel B., 4 
Washington and Lee University, 278 
Wayland, President Francis, 57, 62, 

187, 188, 252, 315, 372 
Webster, Harrison E., 5, 60, 63 
Welch, Rev. Ransom B., 63, 379 
Wells, Prof. William, 4, 6, 63 
Wells, Rev. John D., 398 
West, Charles E., 5 
West Point, 210 
White, Edward P., 2, 5, 7, 22 
White, Rev. Henry, 383 
Whitehorne, Henry, 62 
Wilder, R. E., 5 
Willard, Emma, 199 
Williams, Hon. Stephen K., 5, 7 
Wisner, Rev. William C, 399 
Woods, Rev. Dr. Leonard, 375 
Woman's College, growth of, 198 
Worcester Public Library, 146 
Wright, Dean Henry Parks, 30 ; 

speech by, 261 
Wright, Rev. Allen, 396 

Yale College founded, 111 

Yale University, 260 

Yates, Prof. Andrew, 62, 313 

Yates, Joseph C, 460 

Yates, Major Austin A., 23 ; address 

by, 337 
Yates, Rev. Dr. John A., 63, 327 



